Creeping Out Of Forced Seclusion

Last Monday our telephones and internet access went out.

That’s why I haven’t posted in a week.

Also, continuous rains are falling on Jacksonville. Anywhere from nine to 20 inches of rain has fallen in the area since last Sunday.

With outside communication cut off and with rain keeping me inside, all I’ve been able to do is work. And I’ve accomplished a bundle during this enforced seclusion; I’m cataloging my entire collection of Florida history books, artifacts, coffee mugs, tee shirts and ephemera—getting it all ready to sell.

I’ve collected Florida history materials for 35 years so a lot of this stuff has accumulated.

While I worked on local history things, I’ve also been reading the historical books of the Bible, the portion of Scripture I enjoy most. Yes, the names are hard to keep straight but the events resonate within my own life.

For instance, I’ve noticed one recurring phrase that gives me pause. “They feared the Lord, and served their own gods”….”These nations feared the Lord, and served their graven images”.

What a sorry state.

For a nation—or a man.

To fear the Lord, but to serve my own.

Such double commitment makes a man unstable in all his ways. I see this in myself and I see it all around me. Too wishy-washy to rebel outright shaking our fist in the face of God in utter defiance, we pay Him vague lip-service but serve our own gods.

Anyhow, this section of Scripture causes me to examine my own life more carefully.

So, other than being double-minded and cataloguing history books, what have I been doing?

Waiting for the TELEPHONE REPAIRMAN!!!!!

I’m being very Christian in writing that; I did not use any adjective at all.

If you have ever had dealings with the phone company, you can supply your own.

After spending 45 minutes on a borrowed cell phone just getting through their mechanical customer discouragement process before talking to a human being, I waited five days without service.

But I spare you my tale of frustration.

If you’ve ever dealt with the phone company, you could tell your own.

The repairman showed up yesterday and fixed some of our phone lines. Ginny and I decided we can live without the other line instead of going through their customer service process again. Motto: WE PUT THE CUSS IN CUSTOMER.

Once the Bell South Phone company, a forerunner of AT&T, threatened to remove all phone service from the city of Jacksonville.

Years ago, I wrote a history piece about Jacksonville’s Great Telephone War at http://www.cowart.info/Florida%20History/Great%20Telephone%20War/Telephone%20war.htm

In 1885, the phone company increased their initial charges by 900 per cent; when residents objected, the company began removing all phones and wires from the city.

My, how customer service has improved.

But, after all this week without phone or internet, and the interminable wait for a guy who did not show up when promised, I’m sick about thinking about the phone company.

I won’t write about the phone company any more.

In other news, there are also pirates in Somalia.