Subli

 

The unit next to my townhouse was sold a few months ago and the new owner decided to extend their fenced yard which is allowed by the HOA. They have two dogs and they want more room for their dogs to run around.

Last Friday evening around 7:30 pm, I heard a knock at my front door and it was my new neighbor. He and his carpenter friend, Bill, were digging holes for the posts for his new fence.

“Do you have internet connection?” he asked.

“I hope so,” I told him. “I’m just working at my computer. Why?”

“I accidentally cut a cable outside,” he said.

“Oh no! I don’t think it’s mine.”

“Let me show you the cable.”

I was about to follow him inside his house and decided instead to go through mine. “I’ll meet you in back.”

He went inside his house and I went inside mine and out the gate.

He showed me the orange wire that was cut. I shook my head.

“Just like what Randy did.”

“Who is Randy?”

“He was the former owner of that unit.” I pointed to the left of my house. “He was digging the sod when he cut a cable on the other side of my walkway. Luckily he cut his cable, not mine.”

I showed Logan where the cut was on the other side of my walkway. It was never reattached.

“Maybe it was his,” Logan said.

“I don’t think so. His should be on his side of the yard. Besides, there is a new owner now and he has a Dish by ATT. Maybe it was yours.”

“No. Mine is working.” He showed me his WI-FI on his cell phone. “Maybe it was yours.”

I insisted it was not mine but then a thought just dawned on me that I was working on WORD. Not the internet. So I went back inside my house and checked it out.

I got a message: No Internet Connection.

Back outside, I told him, “You did it! I have no internet.”

“I’m so sorry. What are we going to do?”

“Nothing. Comcast is closed.”

He dialed Comcast anyway and was able to get someone. He told the customer service he needed a repairman to fix the cable. But since he does not own the line, Comcast had to talk to me. He handed me his phone and I talked to customer service.

The girl on the line was very pleasant and we made an appointment but not till Monday. I noticed her accent and asked if she is a Filipino and she said yes.

“How do you know?” she asked.

“Your accent.” I told her I’m a Filipino too. She said I don’t talk with the Filipino accent. I said I’ve been in the states for over 50 years and lost it. She was at Manila Help Desk. Part of our conversation was in Tagalog. I’m always glad to talk to a Filipino so I can converse in Tagalog.

Logan suggested I use his computer to go online and I told him not to worry.

“You won’t have an internet for a few days.”

“It’s OK.” I assured him.

He then handed me $70 cash which is the cost of the service call. First I was reluctant to take it but he insisted.

Just then I remembered Logan said Bill was a carpenter. My two kitchen drawers collapsed a couple of months ago and I had a hard time getting a carpenter to fix it. I decided to ask Bill if he can fix it for me before he goes back to Pennsylvania. He came inside my house and I showed him the broken drawers and the new drawers I bought months ago. He said he would do it for me.

I’m sure for some people having no internet connection is like the end of the world. This happened to me years ago before we moved here. The first trip we had, I did not bring my computer and we had no TV either. I believe it was for 12 days I was not connected. It was wonderful. Nobody could email me and I couldn’t send nor receive an email. All I have was my blackberry to make phone calls. I read a lot and played tourist.

This time it was only for three days. The repairman came Monday afternoon. Thanks God, I don’t really watch TV. I just have no time. When I told my husband after I hooked him up to his dialysis machine Friday night that he could not watch TCM, he said then he could go to bed early. My son who was in Tampa to see the Yankee Spring Training came back Sunday night and could not believe when I told him there was no internet.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. No TV too.”

Anyway, I kept myself busy catching up on housework and gardening over the weekend.

Bill came Sunday and fixed my kitchen drawers but refused to accept payment. Comcast came to install a new cable on Monday and he did not charge me either. Yesterday, I went to see Logan and returned his $70. I told him Comcast did not charge me anything.

“Why not?”

“I have no idea.”

Before I forgot, Logan also said if I want to put hanging basket on his fence on my side, I’m welcome. He also said that my raised bed looks nice with his fence as the backdrop. I totally agree with him on that. What nice neighbors, he and his wife! He is an intern at the hospital and she is a nurse. Two perfect neighbors for my husband who is not well!