I was talking to the head of a local charitable group, who was intrviewing my wife and I to see if we qualifiy for their help.
When I mentioned I was a retired telephone guy, she told me that an elderly woman she knew, who still has a wired POTS line, is having a lot of trouble with her phone line ringting without her being able to answer it during wet weather, and she asked me if a flooded cable would do that.
I told her that a flooded cable was much more likely to cause a continuous busy signal, and she shifted instantly to saying that's what they were getting: busy signals when someone tried to call this person.
I offfered to give her a spare trimline phone, and she asked repeatedly if that would cure the problem. I told her that it might, and that there was no harm in trying. She changed the subject.
Would anyone care to tell me what she was really asking?