Window of waiting

Wasting my morning waiting for a British Telecom engineer to arrive. We've had on going problems with our phone for the last couple of months, we can call out but we can't receive any calls in. Quite frustrating as it rings once and then goes dead, the person calling doesn't hear that lone solitary ring, just a dead line. I have contacted BT a number of times and have followed their guidance- unplug this, unscrew that, now try this. All with no result . Consequently we have an engineer coming out.

BT report that there is no problem with our line, but when they call us to share this information they are unable to get through!?! God bless 'em.

What else would I being doing this morning anyway I hear you ask? Bum around in coffee shops and generally waste time it is true, but it is my time to waste and I hate being trapped by the window of waiting. BT could only offer two slots for someone to attend, morning or afternoon. Obviously morning is preferable as it gets it out of the way and leaves the remainder of the day free …

“They'll be with you between eight and half-one”

So here I sit a little way into my five and a half hour window of waiting. The house is looking pretty together, there's a load of washing in the machine, I've order a few Christmas gifts from Amazon and now I'm thinking “What now?”

It is obvious that he (or it could be a she, reluctant to indulge in gender stereotypes) won't present until lunchtime, and in my eyes any time after lunchtime (mid-day) could be viewed as the afternoon.