One of those calls... And Faire

I do receptionist work on Tuesdays.  I try to be polite, professional, and generally do what I can to make the calls or contacts as pleasant, or at least easy, as they can be.

Then there are the ones...

Had a call this morning.

Hello, ... this is Cat, how can I help you?

I WANT A LEVEL 11 OFFICER AT MY HOUSE NOW, OR THE LEAD SHERIFF! I WANT A LEVEL 11 OFFICER AT MY HOUSE NOW, OR THE LEAD SHERIFF! I WANT A LEVEL 11 OFFICER AT MY HOUSE NOW, OR THE LEAD SHERIFF! 

Sir, just a moment, what do you-

I WANT A LEVEL 11 OFFICER AT MY HOUSE NOW, OR THE LEAD SHERIFF!  I WANT A LEVEL 11 OFFICER AT MY HOUSE NOW, OR THE LEAD SHERIFF! 

Sir!

I WANT A LEVEL 11 OFFICER AT MY HOUSE NOW, OR THE LEAD SHERIFF! 

I just put the call on transfer, I hope that dispatch could get him to listen...

It isn't that terribly unusual to get folks who don't listen, but this was odd, even for the usual stuff and nonsense.  I have to assume that there is a problem, but that doesn't help me getting a bit of information to him.  And I guess I am really curious, what in the heck is a level 11 officer?  And we only have one Sheriff, so that didn't make a lot of sense to me either.


In other news, I went to faire for one day with Dad.  I don't know why, but it was okay.  Not great, but okay.  I enjoyed being with Dad, we chatted, and wandered around, but I felt... Off.  I wasn't in costume, Dad and I thought it would be a lot easier, and, well, it was.  But I slipped into Fairespeak, and tried to help a couple folks, and they brushed me off.  Odd sensation, that.  Was able to see a few friends, but it was a crazy time for the bunch of us, so Hail Fellow Well Met, was more, Hiyo, I am trying to get crap done, bye.  And with me in full Meh mode, that didn't help...

We decided to leave early as it was getting hot.  BIG mistake.  I didn't time it right, and poor Dad had to drive through the Oregon State game being released.  It says something when they A) turn off all the traffic lights and use people to direct traffic, and B) turn all the roads around the area to one way OUT, which means we were driving and where we would be on a two lane, two way road, with a double yellow line, they had made it ALL GOING ONE WAY.  Reminded me of the news reports of Hurricane evacuations, just smaller.  But, we made it out of the area okay, Dad did NOT get a leg cramp (THANKFULLY!!), and we made it home fine.

I do have to deal with a full day of dust and dirt, creating faire boogers... Eeeew, to put it mildy.  When you blow your nose, and it's black, you know you have dealt with a large amount of dust!

Phone service. Or not.

We have a relatively new phone system I am using at work.  It was presented as being much easier to contact people in other buildings (including the ones in the main office, which is in another city!), and that we could do nearly everything but make coffee with it.

Uh, I don't like coffee that well, and don't really think the IT guys remembered they were talking to people who are NOT techs...

For example.  I have to transfer calls to dispatch.  Now this should be easy.  You just ask the tech guys, and they give me a several step process. 

Uh, huh...

And when I need to do that, if you don't do it in a very short time, it will hang up on you, and more urgently, the one you were transferring.  NOT good.  I started telling them the phone number for dispatch (non emergency), if I was transferring them, or telling them to hang up and call 911 if it WAS an emergency, so I wouldn't keep dropping them.  Very poor way of getting the job done.

I finally sat down and read the booklet (paper, even) we had for the phone.

Well, it wasn't MUCH of an improvement, but I found out, from that, and one of the gents who is in the office, that if you know the extension, you type that in, then wait for it to ring, then hang up the phone.

That's all.  Not several steps.  Just 2, basically.  And I've only lost one since, and that was because of a power blink.  Much improvement there. 

So, now, I need to learn how to transfer calls IN THE BUILDING.  This shouldn't be hard, right?  Dial the number of the phone the person is near, they pick it up, all is rainbows and unicorns. 

Well, except, no one seems to know what the extension numbers are for the six phones in here, except for the main phone, i.e., mine.  That would be great if I call myself for some goofball reason, but doesn't do me a bit of good if I have to call one of the guys up to my phone.  I have needed to do this very thing more than once, which leads to me handing them paper and pen, and leaving my desk, so they can get the info...

So, I need to go get one of the tech guys, and a tech to confused person translator, and see if we can straighten this out. 

On the bright side, I do know how to 'park' calls, and can send them wither and when they need to go, now... If I know the extension.

Technology, a breakthrough... So to speak...

Dad called the house phone, and asked if Husband was there.

Sorry, nope.

Oh, well, I need to find out if he needs the red or the green bottle of cleaner.

???  Dad, I've no clue what you are talking about...

For the tractor...

Oh!  (Dad and Husband are repairing Dad's tractor, it had some diesel go bad in it... Not an easy thing to fix, I am gathering, as the various fixing sessions have gone on...)

I don't know.  I think the red, but I am just guessing...

Then I thought about it a minute, while staring at my cell phone... I called Husband, and told them to both wait a minute.  I didn't want to be the 'translator', and took a chance.

I pushed the speaker buttons on both phones, and held them close enough that they would talk to each other, yet wouldn't squeal feed back.

Can you two hear each other?  Yes!  Yeah!

Then the conversation, via two phones held about 2 inches apart.  The hardest part of the conversation was my not giggling at how strange it looked to have two phones blabbing away at each other!  But, the guys were able to talk directly to one another, getting the info quickly, and now I think they have all the parts to get the job taken care of.

Ah, technology, what will it do next?  (However, I think I might put Husband's phone number in Dad's phone... Perhaps it might make it go a little less giggly next time...)

D is for dime phone call.

My Dad worked at the local telephone company as a repairman.  He would go out and work on the pay phones.  I would see the phones around town, and chirp, "my Dad put that phone booth in."  I would think it really cool to be riding around at night, and see the glow from the overhead light in the booth, making a friendly light in otherwise dark areas.

He also collected the coin boxes.  You wouldn't think a box full of dimes (and later quarters) would be that big of a deal, but I picked one up, and they are HEAVY.  Dad had to take several of the boxes to the bank.  Most of the time the bank tellers would just open the door, and lead him to the back, where he would lift up the boxes for them to take care of.  He knew when there was a new person, because they would stop him at the desk, and they would take care of it.

Once.

Then the next time, he would be led to the back, where he would do the heavy lifting again...

I liked to watch Dad work on the different parts of the equipment, from the "peds" outside, to climbing poles, to digging about inside the phones themselves.  Once in a while, after I learned to drive, I would see him, and I would stop, and we'd chat, usually he working, while I would hand him tools.  Once or twice, if it was at a person's house, they might come out and ask how long I'd been working.  Feeling mischievous one time, I looked at my watch, and said, "Oh, about ten minutes..."  Laughing, Dad then introduced me.

It's somewhat sad to me, there are no phone booths that I know of in the area.  I wish there were.  While it isn't the regular need that it used to be with cell phones.  But batteries die, phones are not with the person, and there are even those who still don't have a phone.

So there times when they could use a phone... Attached to the ground, or not.