the call is coming from upstairs...

So we've been without a dialtone since Monday. This is extremely inconvenient. I don't recommend it.

I called in a service request to Verizon (which was lots of fun with the automated service line lady, who, for a computer, has a very expressive voice), and made an appointment for Friday morning. Pat got permission to "work from home" that morning, so we could let the technician into the house if we needed to. And I coordinated with the front office to make sure that our utility closet (outside) would also be unlocked and accessible.

I get home this evening, and there's a note from Jack the Verizon guy stuck in the door. He writes that we should have a dialtone now.

I go inside and there's a message from him on the machine. He says he's up on the pole, has checked everything out and it's all working properly. He couldn't tell what the problem was. Says it was strange that our line wasn't working.

Now I checked the phone before I left the house at 7:40 this morning. And there was no dialtone. At 3 this afternoon, it was back. After four days. With no help from the technician.

What the hell is going on?

I have a theory.

On Saturday, Pat and I finally tossed our pumpkins, which while waterlogged and squishy were providing sustenance for the extremely fat squirrel that lives in the tree next to our house.

I think he got even.

I think we'll probably lose our dialtone again in the near future, unless I make a peace offering.

Do squirrels like pie?