New Phones, Same Numbers

AT&T bought Alltel way back last autumn. We received mail that explained our phones would not work after the change-over. No problem, they would send us a new phone of similar value and we would have three choices for each number.

January came, no change-over. The date of conversion was guarded. We chose phones that would arrive a few weeks before the big event. The phones arrived and weeks passed.

Then a week or so ago, the costumers who lived out in the country were advised to switch cell companies because the new service might not include their locations. Still the change-over date was top secret.

We finally got a flurry of text messages and learned our phones would go live today.

Waiting for it was almost like waiting for Christmas. My Aria could pick up our home wi-fi so I have been using it for a few weeks. I could do everything on the aria except make phone calls and who needs to call when a cell can email and skype? Two days before the big change, the charger began to pop and smelled like burning garlic.

I called customer service and talked to a pleasant lady for whom American English was a second language. She insisted on sending four new phones to us. I insisted just a charger would be enough. She again tried to make sure I understood we were getting new phones. I figured she’d end up getting fired and asked for the nearest walk in store for our area.

In the end, my darling husband sat in a room filled with customers about to collapse from the anxiety that comes with change. The staff called him to the front and took turns sniffing at the end of the charger that had emitted the noise and the cooking odors.

My darling husband returned with a single replacement charger. Not, four replacement phones. Do not ask how a family of three ended up with four lines. It is kind of romantic, really.

Today the phones changed over, no heart attacks or fires broke out.

Okay, I’ll tell you the story of the phone four lines, the short story.

In 1993 when I moved out on my own with my daughter, I had a phone put in the apartment. When I began dating my darling husband to be, he dropped by and asked for my phone number.

I took a square sheet of paper and wrote my phone number for him. To this day, seventeen years later, he still carries that number. Sweet, right?

Then one day, he thought he needed a cell phone. Line Two. Then I began my stint as a Rent-a-Rev and needed a cell for traveling. The home line was still hard wired. A few years ago, we got a phone for Dan, our son and had the house phone converted into a cell because we thought it was cheaper. Then the contracts all overlapped and taking a line away seemed to incur new charges and long story to short–
I haven’t had the heart to disconnect it.

The phone that has the number from 1993 turned on today with the rest of the batch.

I’m going to try to upload a photo of the new electronics with this post. I just hope you can handle all of the excitement!