header photo

Lori Duffy Foster

... write to think; think to write.

Thoughts

Add your thoughts

Verizon and the secret phone number.
Mon, 12 Jul 2010
We moved recently and my husband is working from home.
He needs a second phone line since he is telecomuting, so I ordered one along with another jack.
Unfortunately, Verizon, the only phone company in this area, arranged an entirely different installation date for the second line and neglected to tell us.
Here is my conversation with the customer service representative.
This begins after I was informed that the line will be installed the following week.
I had just one more question.
A simple one, I thought:

(Please note that I did not record this conversation. I had no reason to believe it would be worth relaying, so I didn't take notes either. In other words, I have paraphrased to the best of my recollection. But my recollection is pretty good. This, I could never forget.)

Me: So what is the number for the second line?
Rep: I can't tell you that. It's unlisted.
Me: But I ordered it.
Rep: Sorry. I still can't tell you. It's unlisted.
Me: Oh, so I'll find out when it's installed?
Rep: No. We can't tell you what the number is. It's unlisted.
Me: That makes no sense! I ordered the line. How do I find out what the number is?
Rep: You can make a call to another phone and find out from the caller ID.
Me (pausing, thinking about the probability that if the number is unlisted, it won't show up on caller ID): Can I request a specific number?
Rep: Oh yes. You can do that.
Me: And then I'll know what the number is?
Rep: Yes, then you will know what the number is.
Me: Okay then, how about 814-555-1212 (Note: the number has been changed to a fictional number to protect my husband's productivity.)
Rep: It looks like that's available.
Me: Then our second line will be 814-555-1212?
Rep: Well, we can't guarantee it, but since it's available, I'm pretty certain you'll get it.
Me: Okay then.
Rep: Is there anything else I can help you with.
Me: I really don't think so.

Helen Thomas: she didn't know when to quit
Wed, 09 Jun 2010

The fourth anniversary of that moment in the Starbucks bathroom
Fri, 28 May 2010

Good-bye Cincinnati
Thu, 13 May 2010

Arizona immigration law: a lame attempt to preserve a lifestyle
Sun, 25 Apr 2010

Twin moms and the psychology of rudeness
Tue, 20 Apr 2010

Distance and the evolution of friendships
Tue, 13 Apr 2010

When censorship can be a good thing.
Mon, 29 Mar 2010

Obamacare: for some, it's a lease on life
Mon, 22 Mar 2010

Perspective: mother vs. mother-in-law
Tue, 16 Mar 2010

Criticism: tough love for the ego
Wed, 24 Feb 2010

Writing and rocks
Fri, 05 Feb 2010

I used to be a better mom
Thu, 21 Jan 2010

I own a Kindle!
Mon, 28 Dec 2009

I am a coffee addict, or am I?
Wed, 09 Dec 2009











My other sites

Chat with me

Resources for writers

My agent

Author Links

Quotes

"Coleridge was a drug addict. Poe was an alcoholic. Marlowe was killed by a man whom he was treacherously trying to stab. Pope took money to keep a woman's name out of a satire then wrote a piece so that she could still be recognized anyhow. Chatterton killed himself. Byron was accused of incest. Do you still want to a writer - and if so, why?"

--Bennett Cerf

"If you ask me what I came to do in this world, I, an artist, will answer you: I am here to live out loud."

--Emile Zola

"People are certainly impressed by the aura of creative power which a writer may wear, but can easily demolish it with a few well-chosen questions. Bob Shaw has observed that the deadliest questions usually come as a pair: ""Have you published anything?"" – loosely translated as: I've never heard of you – and ""What name do you write under?"" – loosely translatable as: I've definitely never heard of you."

--Brian Stableford

Why do writers write? Because it isn't there.

--Thomas Berger

"Writing is a cop-out. An excuse to live perpetually in fantasy land, where you can create, direct and watch the products of your own head. Very selfish"

--Monica Dickens

Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.

--Albert Einstein

There is more pleasure to building castles in the air than on the ground.

--Edward Gibbon

Writing is only boring to the people who are boring themselves.

--Unknown

Who am I?

About Lori Duffy Foster

I was born and raised in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State, which is the setting of my first novel, Spring Melt. I am sister to seven siblings. I am a graduate of SUNY-Oswego (BA) and of Binghamton University (MA). For 11 years, I wrote about everything--crime, education, politics, the military, running, Native American affairs--for The (Syracuse, N.Y.) Post-Standard. That's where I met my awesome husband, Tom.
When I became a mother, I gave up my full-time career to be home with our kids. I have taught college English as an adjunct; worked as a technical writer; freelanced as a writer and editor; and started up my own Web-based business. In my spare time, I wrote a novel that is seeking a publisher. I have started a second novel and I am working on a nonfiction book.
I am a writer, but I refuse to call myself an author until at least one of those books sees print (at someone else's expense).
I have lived all over the country--in New York State, Florida, Arizona and, currently, in Cincinnati, Ohio.  And my hope is that one of these days, my husband and I will be able to take our kids around the country and throughout the world.