Wednesday 24 August 2011

A couple of 'downers' in the last few days.

1) I'm without a phone. Noticed it was dead on Saturday morning but may have been off for several days before then as only use it about once a week, and then mainly only to talk to my sister. Never had a mobile and don't have access to anyone else's phone.
Website of firm from whom my phone is rented from gives phone number to ring if there's a fault to report. Brilliant! They apparently have no email address to contact them - and they're at the other end of the country.
Went out on Mon looking for a public phone booth which takes coins (such a rarity nowadays). Only found one - and it was out of order!
So to Post Office where saw a middle-aged lady (with purple-dyed hair!) who kindly rang the number I'm supposed to ring on my non-functioning phone. Passed it to me and, after explaining problem was told it'll be put right later that day or, at the latest, by end of Tuesday (yesterday). It's now Wed. Same situation, and I have no means to ring them back unless I return to Post Office and ask a favour again - or write, which will take several days to get response. Maddening! Feeling very vulnerable. Hope I don't have a need to call any emergency services in this period.

2) One of my small retinue of feline visitors through the window has not appeared for some days and I fear the worst. Growlie (my name for her) was the smallest and longest-lasting of my visitors who'd been in and out for about 10 years, but last week she started getting sick in my flat every time after just pecking at the food I gave her. She got untypically quiet and not her usual feisty self, nodding off in the corner of my kitchen. I've seen her sitting in the front window of the house next-door but one where I don't think she was very well cared for. Her suspicious and downright hostile attitude to all other cats, and even to me at first, led me to believe that she was being mistreated and not unnaturally felt that the entire world was against her. But she got to trust me and only a couple of months ago for the one and only time, she curled up in my lap.
She may yet re-appear but I get the feeling that her illness, whatever caused it, may have signalled the end - and that her owners had decided she wasn't worth the expense and trouble of keeping.
Maybe I'm making too much of it, and it's only a rehearsal for the inevitable time when one of my own duo leaves his own pampered life, but the thought that poor little Growlie may have indeed gone for good, as it's looking, is still a wrench.



Btw, Maybe there's no cause for concern here, but does anyone know what's happened to blogger Andrew from 'The Widow's World'? His (currently) two and a half weeks' silence is rather unusual for him. - and, while of course hoping he's okay,  I am missing his blogs.




12 comments:

  1. Your phone problem is a real catch 22 isn't it? You need someone with a mobile or a house phone you can use a bit more easily, eh? Either that or change your phone NOW!

    I understand that pussy cats are more resilient than dogs at getting over disease. Comes from them being more feral and less cosseted - your efforts at providing a home for all-comers not withstanding! So there must be hope.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What if you have to buy a replacement phone? Do they make them any longer? Perhaps you can steal one from the museum :-)

    I kid, I kid.

    Maybe you should look into giving up your home phone service and getting a mobile phone instead. The monthly price should be close to the same and you'll have the benefit of being able to take it with you when you leave the house.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Something doesn't sound right Ray. Usually, if there is a problem with the line then your ADSL shouldn't work and I assume that it is working? Unless you're using dial up (I doubt it somehow) and even if you were, that would indicate that the line was good.
    So, is it a hardware issue? Can you buy a cheap handset at the supermarket and plug it in? If it doesn't work, take it back for a refund.
    By the way, your movie and music selections are excellent. I loved seeing Don't Look Now which I think is one of the scariest films I've ever seen. Also Moulin Rouge - simply fabulous! The only one I disagree with (yes only one) is Inception. I didn't get it at all. And I loved Nolan's Memento.
    Hope the missing pussy turns up.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Micky, Cubby & Craig - Celebrations! I got my phone line back just an hour ago. The overhead cable from my flat to the telegraph pole on the other side of the street had practically given up the ghost - though not so much that my computer couldn't work, though with reduced power that too was hanging on by a thread, it seems. All well now but I really ought to consider a mobile as a back-up. One only knows how much you miss something when it's gone.
    I might mention in passing that of the two men who came round, the one who came into my flat was the younger and much more attractive of the two, a blond, about 30 years old who, when he kept bending down to reach the phone socket showed not only the top of his CK undies but being worn so low, the top of his 'dividing line' was on clear display. Phwarrrr! BUT I controlled myself. (Sadly!)
    I've never considered a mobile largely because other people's indiscriminate use of them drives me to distraction. Maybe I could show them how sensibly restrained I am - have it out in front of me but never using it. (And the mobile too!)

    Craig, I'm flattered and delighted that you looked up my list of favourite films (and music) - and that we agree on so much. But you're by no means alone in thinking 'Inception' was, what, obscure and over-inflated? No matter. I don't think any less of you for that. But thanks again.

    Now all I want is the return of dear little Growlie and I'll be a real happy chappy.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a pain about the phone, but so glad you discovered it before you had an emergency need for it. So sorry about Growlie!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks, Mitch. I've got to make sure that being phone-less doesn't happen again. Too much can go wrong.
    Yes, I do miss Growlie and every day think that I'm going to see her sitting on my window sill waiting to be let in. But I've soon got to let go and accept that the dear little thing has gone for good.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Gosh, it's been hard work trying to leave a comment for ages here. Blogger wont let me saying I'm not authorised to do so, such a shame. Trying this way, which so far hasn't worked, but here goes.

    Glad the ohone is working now, I was going to cycle on over with my mobile and failing that a couple of tin cans and bloody big ball of string!

    Jason

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jason, what you say about the difficulty of leaving comments here is worrying. I had no idea and now I wonder if others are having similar problems. No one at all is blacklisted from commenting on my blog.
    It MAY have been to do with my phone line (and hence the BT computer line) having been in poor condition. But now that the cable's been replaced - and my computer speed is now correspondingly increased (a bit) - maybe the problem will be cured. At least I very much hope so. I'm so flattered that you've been attempting contact, sadly unbeknownst to me. In the meantime I apologise on behalf of the naughty gremlins - but in the meantime please keep those tin cans and that string handy, just in case.

    ReplyDelete
  9. there is nothing - nothing - as awful as the loss of a pet. I was fit to be tied when my two cats died. Oh the pain. so you need not explain this.

    ReplyDelete
  10. One thing very reassuring, Dr Spo, about following other people's blogs is that I find so many fellow-bloggers are every bit attached to their pets as I am - and I'm so surprised and pleased to find that I'm not that unusual. It's almost another 'love that dare not speak its name'. I suppose many of us are wary of being put down in a "Oh humans are much more important than animals so stop making a fuss" kind of way. Thanks for your words of comfort and even though little Growlie was not directly MY pet, every day I feel a stab of pain thinking about her absence, hoping she did not suffer too much. But I know it's just a rehearsal for when my own two do go, however that happens.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi,

    Thanks for your little PS! Just doing a bit of blog catch-up and noticed it. As you know, I'm back blogging again - was just one of my periodic lulls!

    ReplyDelete
  12. My pleasure, Andrew. (Really!) Now my life seems a little more complete again. Cheers.

    ReplyDelete