Paranoia? Or reason to be suspicious

[China_cat]

Two trucks from our phone company just pulled up outside. Said they had a call that our phone(s) were down. Nobody from here called them. In fact, we didn't even know they were down. Used both lines yesterday...me to call the vet on the home line, my husband to fax papers. Picking up the phone gave no dial tone but the sound of an open line. On both phones.

If it weren't for the following, I might be willing to accept the accusation of needing a tin foil hat;

My husband is secretary/treasurer of his union local
I manage the website and IT needs of that same union local
My husband is not a citizen (northern European, but still not a citizen)
We have an "In Reason We Trust" license plate on the car
I'm a Quaker.

[Richard Steele]

1. What phone company sends 2 trucks for a dead phone?

I'd be suspicious too.

[fasttense]

2. Sounds fishy to me. I think it's the NSA.

You may want to get a friend (possibly an out of work communications techie) to check your lines.

[fooj]

3. Sorry China...doesn't sound like they are fixing a dead line.

What a bunch of assholes. Will this ever stop?

Peace.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

4. Dear lady, you aren't paranoid. You've just been wiretapped.

Welcome to 1984. :grr:

Between the local union stuff, being married to a non-citizen, AND BEING ONE OF THOSE RABID, PEACENIK QUAKERS . . .

I don't know if it would do any good, but maybe the ACLU needs to know you think you might be getting snooped on.


Has either you or you husband tried to get on a plane lately? I've got a sinking feeling that they aren't going to let me on one, for some of the loudmouth stuff I say on here, being a musician, and for having left-wing stickers on my old car.

I hope that you'll keep us all informed as to what happens. We enemies of the state need to stick together pretty tight.

Peace.

-Orange Cat

[China_cat]

8. I should have added

that I already have a file from the Vietnam days.

My husband went home to Holland for his mother's funeral a year ago in Dec. That was the last time either of has traveled by anything but car. I held my breath then that they'd either stop him from going or prevent him from coming back.

I really resent the intrusions, but if they really want to listen to me argue with phone salespeople and tell others they have a wrong number, more power to them.

[acmejack]

5. The NSA would tap you at the phone company office.

They are much more sophisticated. Just an opinion though, but i wouldn't get overly paranoid. But by the same token exercise due caution. We can't let this all drive us to distraction, lead your life like a citizen! Otherwise you atre giving in to fear & they win out of hand.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

7. Well, I would've thought that too . . .

. . . but someone I trust was wiretapped from a pole behind their house. A tech came out and described in some detail what had been done inside the box. This was in the last six months.

[Richard Steele]

12. True, but LOCAL authorities do plenty of spying as well, these days.

The NSA has no need to physically touch your phone lines, it's true,
but the NSA is hardly the only agency ignoring the Constitution these days.

We have a whole bunch of state and local people with badges
who spend their time trying to emulate their fascist Federal counterparts;
we have all seen many stories of local forces compiling 'enemy lists',
photographing people and cars at protests, etc.

Wiretapping is certainly not out of the question for such people.

[MrMonk]

6. I wouldn't be suspicious

since it happens frequently in my neighborhood that a problem in the lines to the street will affect some phones and not others. I have an LED on my phone that tells me whether the line is in use or simply an open circuit.

I can understand, though, why you would be concerned since you've got the "mark of the (liberal) Beast" on you.

[Mabus]

9. On one hand

maybe they were alerted by someone who was trying to call you that there was a problem with your line.

On the other hand, a similar thing happened to us yesterday. Some background: last year we had problems with our telephone line. The service was off and on. One day we found the telephone wire to the house was down and on the ground. The phone company came out and replaced it. The repair guy checked the rest of the lines leading into the house. So our lines were checked/inspected last year and we haven't had a noticeable problem since that time.

Yesterday morning we got several phone calls and made a few out-going calls. Then, once when we picked up the phone we just heard some clicking sounds but no dial tone. We thought it was strange and it reminded us of the problems we had last year. So my first thought as to go out and check all the wires. None were frayed, all were in place. We were getting ready to go to the neighbor's house to call the phone company when our phone rang. It was like that most of yesterday. It was up and down. Sometimes the phone would be working sometimes it wouldn't.

FWIW, today is windy. Yesterday it wasn't. Today no problems, yesterday problems off and on.

[MikeStl]

10. The lineman werent by chance...

dressed in black suits with earpeices were they? That'd be a tip off there. :) That would make me nervous too, but I think the phone company has a lot more equipment now to autodetect outages. Maybe the lineman don't really know how they were called other than a report came over to dispatch them. Would still creep me out though with whats going on. Funny I just moved into a new house and I had to remove the kitchen wall phone that was hard wired in becuase I have DSL on the line. It is an old Bell system phone and I took the cover off and found a little reddish brown box dangling inside that appeared to be retrofitted the way it was wired in. Inside the box was something that looked like a tiny antenna. I'm just assuming it is some kind of interference/overcurrent protection device. Made me a bit suspicious though.

[acmejack]

11. You know, I have basically said to hell with them

If they want me, they know where I am. I refuse to stop doing what I am doing, in fact I have stepped up my activities. Of course I have less to lose than many of you younger folks, so I can certainly understand caution on your parts.

[China_cat]

13. It would make more sense if I was one of those

'younger folks'. But I'm 60, have to use a mobility scooter to get around and get...on a heavy week...3 phone calls. For the WEEK. Two of which will be a wrong number and the other will be some salesperson who hasn't got around to reading the do not call list. Hell, I don't even go to Meeting any more because the meeting place has moved to where there's no bus service on First Day to begin with and they cancelled the handicap equipped busses for this area almost 2 years ago.

I'm such a danger. I can crush marshmallows in my bare hands. (Potato chips with gloves on)

[coalition_unwilling]

14. This is the adult attitude. I continue to vigil weekly, email

my congress people, support various resistance efforts. I'm in my mid-40s and supposedly at the peak of my earnings cycle, but I'm not going to let fear intimidate me. I expect any day to get pulled over or rounded up and arrested on trumped up charges, but if anything I have stepped up my activities as this regime's brutality has become manifest.