Land Line

Frontier installed my land line yesterday, four days after I'd hoped they would.  Doug, the installer, showed up promptly at 9:30, figured out what had to be done, and then did it swiftly.  He was pleasant to deal with, so some of my irritation with Frontier has subsided.  The nearest connection was at a pole south of my lot, so he had to run a temporary line from that pole to the pole on the boundary of Lots 4 and 5, and then through the woods to the house.

Doug finishes work on the poles.

For now, my phone line runs across the ground.

Doug places the network interface on the house.

Doug connected this thin orange line to a network interface box, and then hooked his line to the phone lines inside.  The electrician wired the interior during construction, and left the wires left dangling in the basement.  Therefore, finishing the installation was quick and easy.  Frontier will return in a month or two to bury the phone line under the driveway — which protects service against falling trees or branches.  As for maintenance, I am responsible for problems on my side of the network box.  If service goes out, I simply plug a phone into a jack inside the box.  If I get a dial tone, it's my responsibility to fix; if not, it's theirs.  Barring a lightning strike, most problems will be Frontier's.

This is definitely a step forward.  Cell phone service at Lake Esau is very uncertain.  Sometimes my cell phone works great, but most of the time it's fade-and-drop.  In the event of an emergency, I want to have reliable phone service.  A corded base unit, which will maintain service even during power failures, assures that.

Rake... rake... rake....

Meanwhile, I continue raking as temperatures and rain allow.  If it's cold and wet, as it has been most of this week, I work inside.  If the weather cooperates, I work outside.  I think I've found about 150 nails thus far! •••