Okay, so Emil just called the Board of Water and Light (I always think of the Christmas carol . . . They will bring us water and light! They will bring us waaa-aater and light . . . ) to get the electricity turned on in the new house.

The rep said, "Is your phone number still 371-1289?"

A great big prize to you if you can identify that phone number, because if you're a regular blog reader and you can identify that number, you were probably, oh, five or two years old the last time you heard it (over twenty years ago). Emil didn't remember that number; I had to remind him where it came from.

And then to top it off, the rep said, "I see you have an outstanding balance of $3.51" - at which point Emil burst out laughing. (The rep didn't see what was so funny.) Heh. At least they don't charge interest! (Makes me wonder how people manage to successfully default on loans. We've just never had the knack for it. All too obviously, since we didn't manage to skip out on that $3.51 . . . or maybe it's $.51, and they do charge interest . . . )

I find it astonishing that this data still exists after all this time. How many system crashes do you suppose there have been in the intervening time? Do you suppose the Board of Water and Light is still using the same mainframe they were using back then?

I also find it weird that we're expected to know this kind of information, dating so far back. I just want to tell them, "Do you realize I'm almost 50 years old and have lost half my brain cells, most of them from the part of my brain that deals with memory? I can barely remember my name and I routinely lose my car in the parking lot, for chrissake!!" Of course, "Is your phone number still . . . ?" is a relatively easy one; the answer is "no." But gosh, if I ever had to call that number to mind I'd be sunk . . .