Important: Please Read!

After damn near killing myself trying to get to the phone this afternoon before the caller hung up, I wanted to share this.

Due to the special circumstances that living off-grid brings, there are certain modern conveniences that we do without. One such convenience is having telephones placed throughout the house like most people do. (And, really, the hoops we've had to jump through just to get a reliable, working phone IN THE HOUSE have been substantial!)

Anyway, the point is this: we only have one phone in the house, and it has to be a stationery, wall-mounted phone in order to get the best reception (not a hand-held). So, when it rings in one room of the house, it often proves difficult (impossible?) to answer it immediately (especially when it's downstairs, and you're upstairs). The answering machine is set to answer at the maximum number of rings: four. And, each time the phone rang today, I couldn't get to it by then. And then, the caller hung up before leaving a message.

If you're leaving a message, I can break in to answer the phone. So, PLEASE, when you call us, start to talk after the answering machine greeting. If I'm in the house, I'll be to you by the time you can finish, "Hey, guys, it's me! Are you there?"

Sorry for the bother, but explaining the situation is easier than me breaking my neck trying to hop over boxes to get to the phone . . . or you getting frustrated 'cause you can't get ahold of us.