The little stuff. I came back to the unit tonight after walking nine laps, took a half-hour, nice, hot shower, (one of the few, or maybe the only, luxury items here) and decided to call home to Mom and Dad.

So I call, Dad answers, I hear "Good Eve...." before the automated voice kicks in and then nothing. The message repeats, still nothing, so I call back, back, and back again about five times. Each time the answering machine picks up. Well, actually it is voice mail, so as soon as the line is busy, the VM answers right away. So I hang up and try, try again.

Dad knows it was me; did he leave the phone off the hook on purpose? Is something horrible happening at home and he cannot talk? Almost weird, though hey, I cannot even call 911 and have someone go check on him. Just a few of the thoughts that show how the mind, okay my mind, works.

Well, after about five or ten minutes of speed dialing I finally get through. Mom answers first and says "Hi, long time no hear from you." (Damn sorry, will try and tighten up). I say, "Is Dad there?" I know better than trying to talk to Mom due to her hearing loss. Dad chimes in. I ask if he get my call five minutes ago. It takes a few sentences back and forth to get the wheels turning. Dad says "Yeah, just as you called, the lights went out" and since he is using a cordless phone, the base station, which runs on AC, goes out, and the connection is lost. Hmmm, here's a thought: why not have a battery in the base station also, just like in the handset (Durr).

Anyhow, it turns out that Mom had been on the phone shortly before I called. So apparently when the lights went out, and then they came back on, Dad decided to check the voice mail to see if anyone called while Mom was talking. There was one message, Dad tells me about it and then interrupts himself and says, "Oops, I guess I should have waited for you to call back." Duh.

Sometimes it is the little stuff.
  ¶ 1:43 AM