Party Line (Updated)

Here's a funny tale... 

So Grandma's been having some trouble with her house phone- it sounds like someone's trying to dial out every 5 minutes or so.  I noticed it when talking to Uncle David about the water heater fuses and it hasn't resolved itself.  Grandma thought it was call waiting and that someone was trying to get through (probably her nosy landscapers, she thought)... but nobody called when she hung up except relatives.  Waiting until after the hoiday (Civic Day), Mom called the phone company to complain, and it turns out Grandma wasn't the only one who was having a problem.  Turns out the entire street was having a problem.  Turns out the entire street called the phone company that weekend, with the exception of one address:  Grandma's house... which led to an interesting discovery...

Remember that alarm wire we cut?  That itty-bitty, tiny wire that connected the alarm panel to the ENORMOUSLY LOUD siren in the attic?  Yeeaahhhh....Turns out, and I'm not 100% on the details (Kate, you may understand this better), but the street was (and still is, apparently) part of a party line with the phone company.  The house alarm *used to be* connected to an alarm company, and was therefore on a second line in the house...and therefore on the party line system.  So when I cut that teeny-weeny wire in that itty-bitty house, I inadvertently sent a signal that screwed up the entire street's phone system.  After mom called, the phone company said, "AHA!!" and flipped a simple switch, solving the problem for everyone. 

I think this is hilarious.  So much for Grandma arriving quietly...I'm laughing my ass off right now, and Grandma is too.  :)

Update:  My manager, Greg, used to work for the phone company while in the Navy.  The dialing tone we all heard was apparently the alarm system trying to dial out when the wire was cut.  The current theory is that there's another smartbox somewhere in the house that got the signal, "the wire is cut!  the wire is cut!" and replied, "call for help!"  which caused the line to dial.  Constantly.  The line was disconnected so it didn't go anywhere, but the party line system was open to the request.  The phone company has thus "hung up" the errent signal.