Posted by CarolynCO on 1/11/06 10:52am
Msg #87561

Another food for thought

Right after posting about the fires, we lost electricity and it has just now come back up. I can only assume the wind has a great deal to do with the problem.

For people who have portable phones in their home and don't have at least a minimum of one *old fashioned* phone where you have to stay put to talk, you won't have phone service when the power goes out. If they ever had the need to do the reverse emergency 911 calls to warn you of the need to evacuate, you wouldn't get the call.

Just something to think about.

Reply by SLB SIGNING SERVICES, INC. - Sherry on 1/11/06 11:09am
Msg #87567

Very valuable information Carolyn

You are so very right. I remember during Hurricane Charley we only had portable phones and we were without power for 8 days. Needless to say, as soon as possible, we went out and purchased an "old fashioned" one (isnt there a term for that type of phone???LOL)....

Reply by CarolynCO on 1/11/06 11:18am
Msg #87575

Re: Very valuable information Carolyn

Sherry,
We have one portable and three *old fashioned* ones, and yes, I'm sure they are called something else.

Reply by Charles_Ca on 1/11/06 12:22pm
Msg #87598

How about "wired" or "hard-wired" NM

Reply by MistarellaFL on 1/11/06 12:04pm
Msg #87590

Where are you located Sherry?

I am 20 miles north of where Charley hit. You must be close! Are you ready for the upcoming season?

Reply by eXpedN_TX on 1/11/06 1:21pm
Msg #87611

Re: Where are you located Sherry?

POTS lines = Plain Old Telepone equipment. You don't have to have an old rotary phone, just one that gets it's power through the telephone lines and not a 3-prong plug in the wall. I always have a couple in my home. At my old house they had the very old 4 prong telephone plugs in the wall. I had to install all new jacks. The house was built in 1955. It was kind of cool. I kept an old rotary phone hard-wired in to the wall in the Master Bedroom. - Melissa

Reply by JanetK_CA on 1/11/06 7:48pm
Msg #87690

Re: Very valuable information Carolyn

Many years ago when I was in the telecom field, we used to call them POTS for "plain old telephone set". I still have one and it has come in very handy more than once. We had a transformer blow in my neighborhood last year bringing power down for about 16 hours. It was my only outside access, once the cell phone batteries ran out. (I wasn't going to sit late in the evening with my car running in the garage to recharge it!)

Reply by JanetK_CA on 1/11/06 7:53pm
Msg #87691

Oops...

Guess I shoulda read ahead first! eXpedN_TX, you beat me to it! An old rotary dial, huh? I wonder if all of the central offices still support that type of phone. They sure do last a lot longer!! The one I have has to be at least 15 - 20 years old and never needs new batteries! ;>)

Reply by Charm_AL on 1/11/06 2:07pm
Msg #87619

I lived thru that! Very scared last tornado season when the power went out and the phones were dead and my and the shorty were in the bathtub with her vrib matress over us. Good idea to get an old fashioned one for back up. I liked those better anyway!
I had a princess phone lol...oh brother!

Reply by Charm_AL on 1/11/06 2:08pm
Msg #87620

ok, still not ready to type without looking at keys...n/m

Reply by christiSocal on 1/11/06 3:37pm
Msg #87631

How about "phones with a leash" n/m