![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Chinese curses
A relative is living in interesting times, in the Chinese sense. Thursday the transmission in her car died; the repair is probably more expensive than the value of the car, but she can't afford a new car if it costs more than a transmission. Friday, a big storm damaged the roof on her patio (fortunately not the house proper); that'll be covered by insurance, but there was a lot of storm damage and it may be a while before the insurance company can pay attention to her. And then, either Friday or Saturday, her phone service died -- not the incoming service, the phone company said, but apparently something inside her house. That'll probably be the first thing to get fixed. (The house isn't that big; how much wire can there be to trace?)
I hope that adage about bad news coming in threes means only threes rather than a minimum of three; I think she's had quite enough excitement for a while.
I hope that adage about bad news coming in threes means only threes rather than a minimum of three; I think she's had quite enough excitement for a while.
You (and your relative) may already know this...
There's a phone line drop point (also known as the network interface jack) inside every house, this is the spot where the phone company ends their responsibility and the owner's responsibility begins. Typically it's in the basement (if the house has one). It resembles a wall phone jack, except that there should be at least two sockets. One is the incoming line, and it actually plugs into the jack. The other is the house line, and the wire jacked into it leads to the rest of the house.
The way to determine if the problem is the house wiring or the phone company is to bring a phone over to the interface jack. Disconnect the line that leads from the jack to the rest of the house, plug the phone into that jack. If your relative can get a dial tone and make a call, then indeed the problem is in the house.
But, at least she'll have one phone working as long as she leaves it plugged into the network interface jack.
Re: You (and your relative) may already know this...