The End of an Era

As of tomorrow - 9/21/12 - there will no longer be a Howell at the end of 847-8138. We are disconnecting the land line. It feels a little weird to know that in a few months that number will probably be assigned to some other poor soul - who will get occasional phone calls from relatives who won't get around to updating their paper address books! The average time for a number being reassigned is 30 days to 6 months.

It really makes sense for us - there isn't much need to spend $48 a month for the privilege of hanging up on a dozen "unavailable" calls and another dozen calls that we can clearly tell from Caller ID that we don't want to take the call. The answering machine generally has more hangups on it than real messages (along with the pre-recorded robo-calls that are halfway through by the time the machine starts recording).

But as my sister Susan said in response to the email that was sent out announcing our decision to abandon the land line "It's the end of an era, 847-8138 is no more! Wow...I grew up with that number, called my friends, played pranks on unknowing strangers... good times, good times. Farewell 847-8138, you were a good friend to us all." I, of course, never played phone pranks on strangers. Well...maybe once...

Mom shared with me that when they first got that number it was VI7-8138. I still remember when the area code changed from 804 to 434. I think Susan is right, it is then end of an era. Anybody in the market for a slightly used cordless phone system with 3 handsets? Going cheap!!