clipped message

So I’m at mighty Weggers in the parking-lot this afternoon (Monday, October 29, 2007), finished shopping (and the Canandaigua YMCA) and about to drive home.
So I figure I’ll try calling Linda to take three muffins out of the freezer to thaw.
I ain’t in the store, so a cellphone call should go through — inside sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t.
I fire up “home” from my contact-list, and “send” a call. No one answers.
Well, okay; Linda is probably out walking the dog.
So I fire up “Linda-cell” from my contact-list, and then send that call.
Strident beep from the cellphone, followed by ringing.
Suddenly the call is answered with deafening-silence; followed by a clipped message which only says “command.”
I give up; if the muffins wait until I get home it’s no tragedy — it’s what I used to do.
RE: “clipped message.......” Must have been our ISP (or my so-called “silly MAC” or our toothpaste).
Apparently Linda dropped her phone — her hands are numb from the chemo.
But we all know it’s our ISP (or my silly MAC or our toothpaste).

“Mighty Weggers” is Wegmans, a large supermarket-chain based in Rochester we often buy groceries at. They have a store in Canandaigua.

“Linda” is my wife of nearly 40 years. She has lymphatic cancer. (It’s treatable with chemo-therapy.)

Our dog is “Killian;” a rescue Irish-Setter. We had a second rescue Irish-Setter, “Sabrina,” who died in March 2007.

-RE: “Must have been our ISP (or my so-called “silly MAC” or our toothpaste)........” ISP equals Internet-Service-Provider; in our case RoadRunner via the cable. Last July my macho, blowhard brother-from-Boston visited, and set up a wireless Internet connection to my router. His Internet reception was spotty, so he loudly blamed our Internet-Service-Provider (ISP). Now anything untoward is due to my ISP.

-RE: “silly MAC........” All my siblings use PCs, but I use a MAC, so am therefore reprehensible.

-RE: “toothpaste......” We get loudly excoriated for using Colgate instead of Crest.