Centurylink - exactly which century?

If you're wondering why this post is late, here's the story.
I called Centurylink when I realized I didn't have a dial tone on our home phone. The repairman came and tinkered about and then left, proclaiming the problem fixed. He never tested the telephone though, which still didn't work. Not only that, but the internet, that worked fine before his fateful visit, now didn't work either. It turns out he knew the problem wasn't fixed, because Centurylink had not closed the repair ticket. He must have had other plans.

I won't describe the many phone calls to Centurylink or the number of times I had to enter my phone number, repeat my name, address, and social security number, and re-state the problem. In all, I spent several hours on hold listening to recorded assurances that Centurylink strives to provide excellent customer service and my call is important to them. In any case, their automated caller confirmed that a repair technician would be at my house between 8 am and 11 am. You guessed it - no one showed up! Another hour on hold, and I was told that a technician would be here by 8 pm. Sigh. Anyway, I'm happy to say that it's finally fixed.

It hasn't always been like this. Technology may have moved forward, but it doesn't mean that customer service has. Here's a great example of customer service: the Chinese Telephone Exchange in San Francisco. It opened in 1909, and was staffed with operators who had to speak fluent English as well as five Chinese dialects. They also had to remember not only the names of the thousands of Chinatown residents, but also where they lived. They had to know what they did for a living too, so they could distinguish between two people with the same name.

The exchange was destroyed by the San Francisco earthquake, but was rebuilt and continued to operate until 1949 when the rotary phone system made the switchboard obsolete. For more on the Chinese Telephone Exchange, including video footage from the 1920s, be sure to visit the fabulous foundSF website.

Here's a great card showing the interior of the Chinese Telephone Exchange.

The Comstocks

Here is a joyful gathering of Mr. and Mrs. Ross Comstock with friends and family. I don't know who they are or where they are. The stamp box in the upper right-hand corner indicates that the card was printed sometime between 1904 and the 1920s, a fairly broad range.

Is that really a hat the young woman in the front is wearing, or is it something she put on her head as a joke? It's very unusual. It's so nice to have the names on the back, but not knowing the location it's hard to say for sure who these people are.

Alise Sainte Reine, France

Alise Sainte Reine is a tiny town in Burgundy with a population of just over 600. Small as it may be, it is thought to have been the site of Caesar's defeat of the Gauls in the Battle of Alesia. The U.S. military also stopped by here during World War I. According to the message on the back of the postcard, the X on the front marks the location of their battalion headquarters.