The Saga of Haley
Something over two years ago I got a new Treo for work partly to use as my work phone and partly to use to test the code I write all day every day (it is not a Nokia device because my division works on any device on any network and I happen to be working on PalmOS these days). It is a nice device and I have enjoyed making it do things the manufacturer never intended it to do.
It seems the phone number that came attached to this device was owned by a young maid named Haley. She is quite the popular lass based on the voice mails, IMs, and missed calls I have received over the years.
In the first few months I either ignored the IMs and incoming calls or politely explained that they had reached the wrong number that No Haley is not here. These came about two a week for several weeks and the tailed off to a couple a month and then to just once in a while.
Somewhere about six months after getting the phone I listened to a somewhat frantic voice mail from what sounded like a boss that went something like this:
Haley, I hate to call you on your day off but SoAndSo called in sick and SuchAndSuch is not answering. I really need someone to cover a shift. If you can, call me back as soon as possible.
This was followed within seconds by an IM from the same phone number with about the same message. I felt bad for the fellow so I texted back a message explaining that the Haley must have a different number and wished him luck finding her. He thanked me for the heads up.
Just this past October I got a voice mail from Haley’s Nana looking for her for something. I would certainly have called Nana had she not said in the voice mail that she had also left a message Haley’s house phone. Poor woman. It has been two years and a granddaughter she clearly cares about has not cared enough to let her know that her cell number has changed.
We have some clues that Haley was a big hit with the guys. I got several IMs over the months that went along the lines of
“Hey Haley, Whatcha Doin?”
These happened often enough that I went to the trouble of creating a QuickText item in the IM client so I could reply with just a couple of taps. I have two versions and would pick one based on my mood and content of the incoming IM. Clear cut come-on lines get the first one:
You probably have a wrong number. You will know my name if you have the right number. Hint: Not Female.
Wrong Number. Tiffany and Haley are not at this number now.
[Just looking at it now to quote the text reminds me that some of the IMs were to ‘Tiffany’ also. hmmm.]
Almost all of these voice mails and IMs land between midnight and 3am so I miss the actual arrival. In the rare cases that I happen to be awake to catch the IM coming in, I generally send a reply right away. For the others, I randomly decide whether to reply based on my mood when I read it. If I am in a chipper mood I reply otherwise I just delete the thing.
One really interesting voice mail about six months after I got the phone that I saved for some months before it got lost in an unfortunate device Hard Reset went something like this:
Haley this is Bob WhoandWho from ZoomTunes Video. I met you at Crab Island a couple of months ago. I need to get in touch with you to get you to sign a release for a video we made that day….
I decided to write about this saga because over this christmas break I got another of these IMs:
Hey how are you?
Me: Hey Mary, I got an IM that I think is for Haley, look.
Mary: You should tell him that you have had an operation and your name is now ‘Hal’ to see what he says.
Me: I’m chicken.
Me: sends - wrong number. Haley has not had this number for two years
im: Yeah. we are very close
Mary: She probably got married and the new husband finally got tired of all the calls and IMs and made her get a new number.
Me: Or She is not married, got a new number, and is still giving some of the guys this old number to get rid of them
Either one of those is possible from a girl who goes months without telling the place she works that she changed cell phones and over two years without telling her grandmother about the change.
The only other option is that Haley was one incredibly popular lass three years ago to have a number that is still popping out of some guys’ black books in the lonely hours after the bars have closed. I wonder how many of these calls I will get in 2008.
Happy New Year Haley.
Imported from an old blog. Some links might be dead. Let me know if you find dead links.