[Palindrome] land line... good news!

[Carol A Meyers <carol MIT EDU>]

Hello team 'El Google'!

I've been working on getting the land line turned on in room 26-204.  It
has been a startlingly complicated process, to the point that I am
beginning to wonder whether the people in the telecommunications office
have ever heard of the mystery hunt before.  Or whether any of them are
competent.  But I digress.

Anyway, the good news is... they have told me they will turn on the jack
on Thursday, 1/13!  Our phone number will be 617-324-7787.  They have
told me this in writing, so I think that's a good sign.  The phone will
only be able to make calls within MIT.

We will need someone to bring a phone, and a phone cord.  But I doubt that
will be too hard.  Volunteers?

OK, now for the financial oomph... the cost of this will be $116.  Split
twenty-something ways, I guess that shouldn't be too bad.  Most of the
cost is the cost of activating the jack, which is $100.

I had to do some slightly underhanded financial things to get them to
provide this service.  Specifically, they were deadset against letting me,
a mere student, be charged for the phone connection.  They kept insisting
that I must be a financial signatory of an MIT-organized student group.
Fortunately, it happens that I am the president (and financial signatory)
of a (completely unrelated) MIT group, so I told them to charge it to
that.  Ah, abuse of presidential power!  (And I don't have to worry about
being impeached, as my term ends on February 1.)

Yay!  We're going to have a real phone line!


Carol


P.S. In case anyone asks, our phone is being sponsored by the INFORMS
student organization.  But I doubt anyone will ask.