I step into the other room for a minute and glancing out of the widow, I am surprised to see a vehicle attached to a boat in my back yard (or perhaps the boat was actually attached to the vehicle…)! I freaked out. Sort of. I was alarmed might actually be more accurate. My first thought was to call Mom and Daddy, so I whipped out my phone number list (no, I don’t have them memorized, I really should though) and sit down at the phone to call Daddy. (Now this is the land line, as I do not have a cell phone, and they both had theirs with them at the time.) So, here goes. I punch in his number, and it rings a few times and then gives me the quasi-musical “dum-de-do!” noise, and the sappy voiced automated lady told me that I had to enter the area code first…Well I tried again, and this time got an automated guy’s voice. His spiel was somewhat different, but I didn’t stay and listen to it. Area code! Area code! I cannot remember what the area code is here! So, I hop over to Mom’s computer and type up my sister’s on Skype…asking if anyone was there. Then I do an internet search and come up with the area code within a few seconds (after, rebooting the internet…which is a truly fantastic invention…the internet that is, as well as its re-bootablilty…). By this time Racheal typed back, and I briefly and hurriedly explained the situation, using very poor grammar, spelling, and completely forgoing the capitalization rule…
Using the area code I had found (and of course now remembered) I tried calling again, but it wouldn’t go through. Murphy’s Law…are we sure my name isn’t Murphy? I’m always getting into these brilliant types of situations…
So I informed Racheal that I was too dumb to know how to use a phone and asked her to call the folks for me which she promptly did.
At some point before or during all that, I ran about the house like an idiot peeking out of windows trying to get a better view, and see if I could locate and identify the owner of said vehicle and boat, and to check and make sure the back door was locked (which I knew it was…but…) All I saw was a brown blob disappearing around the corner of the Honey House…not much good for identification there…
Racheal got through to Mom and informed me that it was the Uncle. Phew. I did not know he had a vehicle like that...never seen it before. That it might be the Uncle had been my second first thought earlier, or maybe it was my first first thought, I cannot remember. But, it was just the Uncle, and Daddy was even with him…
Racheal told me that she has had the same difficulty with making such a phone call before, but she could not recall what she had done to surmount the problem…I responded with my favorite Pooh-ism “Bother!”
Sooo, Yours Truly was really freaked out about nothing. (Oh, and the “brown blob” was the Uncle’s brown shirt…)
Now about me and phones (or should that be “telephones and I”?), like I said, I do not have a cell phone. I do not generally even like talking on the phone, and like even less making or answering phone calls, but when I do participate in such activities, it is 99% of the time (that is, by the way not a precise statistic…) a cell-to-cell call to/from other members of my family (on other members of my family’s phones…). So when I place a call, I do not even have to go to the contact number list (I am not precisely sure that I even know how without going to a few wrong places first…), I merely punch the speed dial!
So land lines to cells with non-matching area codes are completely beyond my sphere of knowledge…I really think that I will request to be educated about that over the dinner table tonight…
Well, I hope that y’all have enjoyed being regaled with the tale of my fright and ignorance, and I will permit you to laugh as much as you like...I will merely smile and pretend to bat my eyes (which I fail miserably at) and pretend that I cannot hear your laughter from all these miles away (it is a pity I forgot to bring any ear-plugs with me!!)
Au Revoir!
P.S. I forgot—After the worst of my fright was over, Racheal voiced her uncertainly of the details of the situation in the maxim: “I know nothing…”, which a few of you might recognize, as it’s laughter causing capability is great within certain circles…. I scolded her severely, telling her something with the gist of, that when an individual has frazzled nerves and shaking hands it is not good timing to make such a party laugh! Followed of course with a smiley face…for, of course she succeeded! And indeed, after such experiences as these, I do feel as though “I know nothing” is quite an appropriate motto for me and my hollow cranium…
P.S.2 I have now been duly educated…I must add a number 1 in front of the area code!!! As the saying goes, one learns something new every day don’t they? Well, such is my life…and this was only today…Wait until you hear about how I accidentally made cheese the other day!
P.S.3 Perhaps I should mention that this house was broken into before...some years ago now, but still, those guys were seriously going to clean the place out...and they did take quite a lot. Maybe that is why unknown folks poking around here is especially alarming to me...