Not So Amusing

I think every woman in the last few weeks of a pregnancy knows firsthand that sleep is a precious commodity that is often hard to come by. Whether it be due to an aching back, bathroom trips, contractions, baby gymnastics in your belly, or even just the usual wake-ups from children already in the house, sleep does not come easily or uninterrupted. However, last night was an "adventure" of a different sort.

The story really starts when we moved into our house 1.5 years ago. After we sold our previous house, I was able to call for the amenities, like a landline and internet. I can still remember clearly when I called to set up the landline, the guy on the other end had a few potential phone numbers I could choose from. He named one and I said that's fine, as long as it's a good one, ha ha. Unfortunately, what neither of us knew was that that particular phone number used to belong to a rather, shall we say, notorious person who had/has many people anxious to locate him.

So I have to talked to many people and over and over again I've said, Sorry, wrong number. For a while, I was getting called every day. Then the automated calls started, you know the ones where it says, Hello this message is for _________. If you are not _______, please hang up. I would always just hangup. Well, one day I wasn't here, so I got the whole message on the answering machine and realized that these calls were from collection agencies out of state. Whenever a live person called, I would explain, because it seemed to have more of an effect, that the person they were trying to reach did not live here, but that he used to have this phone number, no I did not know him, nor did I know how to get a hold of him, and PLEASE STOP CALLING THIS NUMBER! Finally, after a year or so, the calls seemed to subside and I only occasionally will get one for someone in this person's family.

Yesterday evening, however, after the kids went to bed, we were watching the Olympics when the phone rang. I picked it up and it was an automated phone call from Delta Airlines telling me my connecting flight for the next day was cancelled and it gave the rerouting plan. I listened in amusement, assuming it was meant for someone in our phone number's previous family. I was amused because I was picturing myself getting on an airplane the next day 8.5 months pregnant.

Then the phone rang again, but this time it was at about 3:00 AM! I started up, heart pounding, wondering what family emergency was happening, because who else is going to be calling in the middle of the night. I gasped out a hello and the automated phone call started, Hello this is Delta Airlines calling... I hung up the phone, told Dan in amazement, and I tried to calm down my racing heart so I could go back to sleep. A few minutes later it rang again and it was the same message! I remember crying out, How do I make this stop?! This time I let the message play to the end and then hung up. Then I lay there for I don't know how long waiting for the phone to ring again, which it never did.

So Delta Airlines, I've got a grudge against you. You owe me some lost sleep!