Funny But True
With this issue, we’re starting a new feature: stories of the strange experiences that techs have had out in the real world. Our first story comes from Greg. Sirico, C-Tech’s new Director of Training.
A woman called the local telephone company complaining that her phone did not ring. A tech showed up and questioned her about the problem. “So, you’re not getting any calls at all?” he asked.
“That’s the funny thing,” the woman said. “Sometimes when I pick up the phone, there’s someone on the line who was calling me. But the phone never rings. It seems to happen when my dog barks.”
The tech said, “I don’t understand. When your dog barks?”
“Yes. He’s been barking quite a bit lately. He used to be so quiet. But I’ve found just about every time he barks, there’s somebody on the line.”
Just then, the dog in the back yard began to bark furiously. The woman picked up her handset and said, “Hello?” Then she turned to the tech. “See?” she said, “It happened again. There’s somebody on the line.”
By this time the tech was thoroughly confused. He went back to the yard and took a look at this remarkable dog, and this is what he saw:
The dog
was a mixed breed that wore a metal collar attached to a metal chain. The
chain was hung by a metal ring from the drop wire (the wire that runs from
the telephone pole to the house) so the dog could run back and forth across
the yard. Apparently he’d been doing this for quite some time, for most of
the insulation had worn off the drop wire.
Each time anyone would ring the woman’s number, 105 volts would pass through the drop wire to the metal ring, to the chain, to the metal collar, and into the poor dog. And the dog would bark.
The tech replaced the drop wire and advised the woman to tether her dog to something else. She was glad to have her telephone repaired, and the dog must have been greatly relieved as well.
This is a true story. We’d like to hear your strange-but-true stories of the weird and wonderful things that happen in the field. Send them along to gregs@c-techtraining.com and we’ll share them with your fellow instructors.
And when you visit us for training on Copper, Fiber and Integrated Systems Voice and Messaging, let’s sit down and share war stories
