Power Company To The Rescue

For ten days Theresa and I have been bothered by a high frequency noise on our lanai. Every day we talked of the noise and how it really interrupted the tranquility of our back yard and pool lanai.We wondered where the sound came from and determined it had to come from the transformer across the road from our pool.

After complaining for nine or ten days I told Theresa if the sound was not gone by tomorrow I would call the power corporation and ask for help. Tomorrow became today and after she gave me the phone number I called. After listening to the phone menu I decided to touch # 3 which would give me home assistance. I reached a nice lady and she said she would transfer my call to the section which would help me out.

The next person I spoke to asked me for all the information I gave eight years ago when I signed up with the co-op which controlled the power in Cape Coral. By now my patience was at its limit but he explained that they had another department that looked into customer complaints. I explained that I was not complaining just looking for an answer. The next man said that he was sure that the noise was not caused by the power corp. He suggested I explain once more what I was hearing and then said he would send over a man who would help me if I was home during the next hour. I agreed.

A half million dollar truck pulled up in front of my house and a man removed himself from the air conditioned cab and approached my ftont door. As he came up he spit out his chewing tobacco and rang the doorbell. He showed identification and shook my hand. I invited him to come to my lanai and experience the sound. He said he was from Alabama and when he heard the sound he said,"that ain't no sound from our power company."

He listened again and volunteered to find the cause. He asked me if there were batteries in my orbital exercise machine and when did I change the batteries. I told him about ten days ago I put new batteries in the machine. He placed his ear to the computer programmer and pointed to it saying,"this is the problem yo hear." He removed the batteries and the sound disappeared. I was stunned. I felt stupid but he reassured me neither was true because he had worse cases than this one.

I thanked him for his trouble and he smiled as he left my house replacing some fresh tobacco and I said you will have a laugh at my expense at the shop. He smiled and said he would have a laugh but promised not to give the address of the old man who called the false alarm.