It took half a day. At his pay rate, his time cost more than my monthly service. The old lead-encased lines are subject to shorts, most often caused by the claws of critters. A sizable rat ambled across the line on a recent fall-like night as I headed out to catch the streetcar to the Quarter. When the wind blows, the cracks in the lines rub together, shorting out the connection.
Rain gets into the cracks and causes shorts.
Not much, the BellSouth worker says. There are not enough complaints here. What he means is that the people on this street do not have enough political clout to pressure the phone company. They are still being fixed day and night by an aging crew, many approaching retirement age, often forced to work overtime. Well, because of the Universal Access Fee for one thing, and the Clinton administration's attempt to close the digital divide.