LIFE,

Last Tuesday our credit card terminal stopped functioning.  I spent at least 2 hours on the phone with technical support, only for them to finally determine the machine was malfuntioning.  So we ordered a new one.  In the meantime, we had to go old school.   Filling out all the credit card information on those old credit card receipts.  The receipts start piling up, waiting to be input in the terminal.  Now on a normal day, we don't usually have many credit card inputs.  Unfortunately, last week, we had three shows we were booking; Smoke on the Mountain, Bullets for Broadway, and Broadway, the Latest and Greatest.  

Later, I learned that we had had a phone line disconnected to save money and because it was a line we could do without.  Well, the phone line the credit card terminal was hooked to appeared to be functioning because "there was a dial tone".  Techical support even had me move the machine to another line, just to verify wheather it was the line or the machine.  The machine didn't work no matter which line it was attached to.  Hence the determination the terminal was bad. 

Then, we discover the fax machine is not working.  You could pick up the fax machine handset and hear a dial tone, but we still could not send or recieve faxes.  I dialed the fax machine from another line and it rang about 5 times and then comes a recording "We are sorry, but the number you are dialing is not able to receive calls".  To make a long story short, the line we had disconnected was somehow tied in to the fax line, which was also the line the credit card terminal was connected to.  What?  If the line is disconnected, why would you even get a dial tone?

Out comes Turner Teleco.  They move the fax line to another number (the roll over line at Young Troupe).  Viola, the fax machine and the credit card terminal are now working!!  WooHoo!  However, now the primary line at Young Troupe is not working.  Out comes Turner Teleco.  They hook the fax machine back to the original number and the now the credit card terminal, fax machine and Young Troupe phones are all working as they should.   FINALLY!  All this took 4 days to sort out.  Now I have a stack of credit cards to input.  Sue Brooks offered to come in and put in all the credit cards.  Hallelujah.  It took her a couple of hours.

I can breate a sigh of relief and carry on as usual.  Oh, now I have to send back the new credit card terminal because it was the phone lines after all. 

 

 

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Strauss Theatre has a lot going on this month. I am imagining staring at the calander in the office, so I might get a few days wrong. If my "mind's eye" isn't half-blind, then during the month of March there will be a total of 13 performances of Smoke on the Mountain; 9 performances of Bullets for Broadway; 2 performances by Corey Trahan and Lisa McCalmon doing Broadway Numbers and 6 performances of Mark Twain (at the Young Troupe). 30 performances, 31 days.  Some of the performance days overlap. There are some days we won't have any performances and some days there will be 2 or 3. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining, just informing. SO......if you live in Northeast Louisiana, please come and see some of the productions. Did I mention I have a 'bit part' in Smoke on the Mountain? Yeah, I get to sit in the audience and play an older member of the Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, who "thinks" she disapproves of Pastor Oglethorpe inviting the singing Sanders Family to their revival. It involves saying Amen, Hallelujah, Praise the Lord and other assorted comments at opportune moments. 


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