September 13, 2000
Dear Everyone:
Now that “Jeannie” has the
Phone Booth
in her dining room, she can’t use the
cordless phone
(with the hands-free
headset that
she promptly lost) which I had given her for her birthday.
There’s only one phone jack downstairs.
However, “Jeannie” really likes the cordless phone (minus the
hands-free head-set) because it has all the important numbers
pre-programmed into it. So
she still wanted to be able to use it.
Way back when I lived in the condo in
Concord,
there was only the one phone jack in the dining room / kitchen area
(with another in the master bedroom).
In order to use both the phone and the modem for the computer, I
had purchased a switchbox.
The “A” switch turned the phone on, the “B” switch turned the computer
modem on.
When I bought my new computer, it came with connections in the
back that allowed you to connect both the phone and the modem (the
computer acts as the switchbox, connecting the modem automatically
whenever you launch a program that uses the modem).
Consequently, I no longer needed the A/B switchbox.
But I still had it, of course.
Far be it from me to toss something away simply because it was
not currently serving any useful function.
Last week, I rummaged through the “electrical” basket in the
stacking baskets that serve as a “tool shed” and quickly located the old
switchbox. On Sunday, I took
it up to “Jeannie’s” place.
I regret to say that, as of Sunday, the upstairs
part of “Jeannie’s” place still smelled an awful lot like “Stinky”, the
skunked Big White
Kitty. This was partly
because Stinky, himself, was upstairs.
“Jeannie” had shampooed him several more times, but the
directions on the bottle specifically said to avoid the eyes, and “right
between the eyes” would pretty well describe the skunk’s aim.
The downstairs didn’t smell too terribly awful, though.
Monroe, the other cat, tends to spend her time downstairs (or
outside) now.
As for the cordless phone.
I connected the switchbox to the phone jack in “Jeannie’s” home
office. Then I connected the
phone and the computer modem to the switchbox.
This more or less replicated the setup I had had prior to getting
the new computer. When
“Jeannie” wants to use the phone, press “A”.
To dial online, press “B”.
We’ll see how well it works.
The answering machine is now in the bedroom, which means that
“Jeannie” has to go upstairs each day to check for messages.
I understand that Mother is now “regretting”
letting the Phone Booth go so quickly.
Up until now, even if she was out in the yard or the garage, she
always heard when the phone rang.
She is now becoming aware that this was because the phone in the
Phone Booth has a very LOUD ring. (It was,
after all, intended to be heard over the din in the bar, or the train
station, or wherever it was originally set up.)
Now she can’t hear the phone ring unless she’d inside the house.
Also, as long as the mover was being so
accommodating, Mother had him bring down a sailing
trunk for
“Marshall”, filled with old school books and papers which has belonged
to our grandfather. I have
no idea how “Marshall” plans to get the trunk from “Jeannie’s” place to
his. It’s too big to fit in
the trunk of his car. But in
the meantime, it’s sitting in “Jeannie’s” garage where it won’t bother
anyone.
And, for good measure, Mother added in a photograph
which I had indicated that I would like to have.
It was, in fact, the only thing I had put on my “list”.
This is a photo of the
Golden Gate
Bridge, taken from one of the towers, while the Bridge was under
construction in 1935. I (or
“Jeannie” and I) had given it to Dad one year for his birthday (or
Father’s Day). “Jeannie” has
put in a “bid” for the
Marian Anderson photograph (at the Lincoln Memorial) that we all
gave Mother for her birthday a few years ago, but evidently Mother plans
to take that one with her when she moves.
So “Jeannie” will have to wait a bit longer.
All of this moving around did not stop us from
seeing a movie.
Highlander:
Endgame, contains elements from both the earlier movies and the
TV series (including the stars of both).
Unfortunately, they should have spent more money on writers.
This was little more than an overly long episode from the series,
and not nearly as good a story line as many of the one-hour episodes had
offered. Don’t waste your
time.
Love, as always,
Pete
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