Tuesday morning problems

Well, one is more a *gripe* than a problem....

First, pettier, thing, more of a gripe: a couple times a week a "transportation company" tries to leave a comment on here that is merely (apparently; I won't click 'em) links to their webpages. I object to this. This blog does not accept free services nor does it provide free advertising. I am assuming there's some stupid "constant contact" like service that this company has bought that spams blogs and tries to post comments on them - and perhaps has sold the companies on "this will raise your profile."

This is why we can't have nice things.

And this is why I moderate comments.

And it's fricking DEPRESSING to get more spam than real comments. I know I'm not that interesting but still.


Second: I have no landline phone services. Happened to walk by the phone shortly after 5 this morning and found NO LINE ominously showing on the screen. OF COURSE there's no easy way to deal with this online - you are supposed to be "registered" with A T and T but if you register, you have to get an eight-digit code. Which you have to accept FROM YOUR PHONE NUMBER (which is impossible at the moment) or by postal mail, which can take more than a week. (Perhaps if I had their internet service, they'd be willing to send to my e-mail, I don't know. But to not have an "e-mail me this" option is annoying).

I tried calling but of course to reach a person it has to be after 8 am, at which point I will be in the classroom. But hey, they have an automated assistant that tells you it "understands full sentences!"

And then asks you to key everything in from your phone keypad. I've registered the outage and have been told that someone will call me - and they need to reach and ADULT - between 8 am and 6 pm Thursday. Womp womp. So now I have the unpleasant question: do I carry a turned-on cell phone into the classroom, something I generally forbid my students from doing, or do I perhaps miss the technician's call?  Does this rise to the level of an emergency? If cell phones didn't exist, it would (I need some way to call 911 if something bad happens) but then again if cell phones didn't exist, I wouldn't be able to carry one into the classroom with me.

It makes my head hurt.

And yes. I checked the other phone jack in the house (the one in my bedroom, which I don't keep a phone plugged into because it's right next to my bed and if I'm sleeping, I don't want a phone ringing in my ear). It's out too and I wonder if maybe a tree branch came down somewhere and took out a phone line but I don't know my neighbors well enough (if any of them have landlines) to ask them if their phone is out. Bah. (I had several neighbors move away in the past few months, and one house is being renovated and is currently unoccupied).