Incommunicado

You never appreciate it until you lose it! It is a statement that applies to so many things. If you have ever sat in the dark during a blackout, or are stood in the rain because you forgot your umbrella you know exactly what I mean.

My current sense of loss is for my phone line back to the states. I have been coming over here to the UK for much of the last two years (almost all of the current year) and most of that time I have not had a phone to make calls back to the states. The cost of calling on my mobile is prohibitive. The cost for my family to call me is likewise, a bit steep.

Then, earlier this year, we got a VoIP phone for The Villa and all of the sudden, my London home had a phone with a Denver telephone exchange! What a great idea! We were able to call back to the states any time we wanted to and our relatives over there could call us. It was only in the rarest of occasions that someone back in the states forgot the seven-hour time difference and called me or one of the other people staying in the house in the middle of the night. (Usually with the excuse that they thought they were dialing a Denver number and it is only early evening in Denver.)

That came to a crashing end a few days ago. I entered the lounge at The Villa the other day to find that a piece of the molding at the top of the wall had given way and came crashing to the floor stopping only momentarily to destroy the phone, a couple of the more fragile furnishings and light bulb on its way to the oak floors.

My frequent calls to touch base with my family were put to an end. I picked-up the pieces of plaster and inspected the phone. Yep! It is beyond repair. Oh well, one has been ordered and I expect it within the week. I cannot wait to talk to my family again in real-time!

This has made me aware of one thing that I wasn't before, the fact that should I ever move over here on a permanent basis, I will be bringing a VoIP phone and having a US number for it. It is just so convenient (when it works) and makes keeping in touch a breeze!

I hope wherever you are today you will take a moment and talk to someone who is important to you.

Don Bergquist - 30 August 2006 - Thames Ditton, Surrey, UK