Hamstrung by technology

We activated our land line's voicemail last Friday. Yesterday, the Big Phone Company -- OK, Only Phone Co here -- turned it on. Very efficient. Except they didn't tell us it was turned on or how we would be notified if people left voicemails. All we knew from our end was that yesterday, our dial tone suddenly turned from a continuous dial tone to a beeping dial tone.

Which the modem did not recognise. Which meant I spent my day off frustrated by the lack of Net access and a Big Phone Company operator who couldn't understand how a dial tone can change, why the phone line can still dial out but the modem can't. She'd send a repairman round.

The repairman came round today and didn't find a fault in the line, of course. Just the funny dial tone. Which he can't do anything about. Back to calling Big Phone Co. Only now, I got a bright, helpful operator who though it must be the new voicemail. The break in the dial tone is to alert us that there's new voicemail. So I tried to access the voicemail. It needed a 4-digit password. Which I didn't have. Because Big Phone Co gave no instructions when they helpfully turned on the voicemail, remember. Back to Helpful Operator. Got default password, cleared the voicemail, dial tone's back to the continuous sound that modem is happy with. I'm back online.

But I didn't need all that aggro from yesterday and this morning. And the repairman wasted his morning too.

All because someone left out instructions.

The following was to have been yesterday's blog had I been able to post:
Happy Fourth of July to my friends who celebrate. Over here, we've already had our share of fireworks. On Saturday, at the al fresco grille for M's birthday dinner, fireworks lit up the distant evening sky. We told M we had it specially arranged for his special day. Although of course it was probably for the National Day Parade rehearsal. Or for Youth Day, as G pointed out as her sister was there for those festivities and couldn't make the dinner.

Having moved out of range of the National Day Parade, I'd quite forgotten that now is about the time the rehearsals warmed up. Last Saturday, at my parents', jets screamed overhead in formation and then in a starburst. HRH did not appreciate it one bit. All she heard was the supersonic reverb and it didn't occur to her to look up at the display. Ah, just like the generation of dogs before her. She missed the helicopters too, just barked at their annoying chop-chop sound.

I'm sure the air force can do a good job keeping the peace when required. But they sure cause a lot of disturbance in peace time.