unintentional prank calls

When I was home helping out with the move last week (see previous post) my mom was trying to get a hold of my dad.  Dad stayed behind at the new place and is notorious for being hard to get a hold of since he never has his cell phone on*.  The new house is close by grandma's house and dad's two brothers' houses (and families) and mom and tried unsuccessfully to get a hold of him there.

So, mom told me to try the house again to see if dad was there now.  I verified the phone number with her and dialled.  This was the conversation that occurred:

Some woman answering the phone: Hello?  (Note: I did not think it was surprising to hear a woman's voice since there are so many relatives close by that are hanging around at any given moment, and it would be just like dad to have someone else answer.)

Me (without thinking, see above parentetical statement): Have you found dad yet?

Some woman: Um, my father has been gone for 8 years.

Me thinking: Oh crap.
Me speaking: Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, I must have the wrong number!

Some woman: Yeah, it sounds like it.

Awkwardness, followed by some kind of, "well, bye then" followed by a quick hang up.

Me: Mom!  What the freak! You said that was the right number. [rattles back number I dialed]

Mom:  Oh, no, that should have been a 4, not a 5.  Let me try it.... (She was able to get a hold of dad.)

The bright side is that at least the woman hadn't lost her father 8 days ago.  That would have been just plain mean.  Lesson learned for me is that if I don't recognize a voice on the phone, don't just plow ahead and ask my question anyway.

Subject change: I saw this and I guess there is hope for me after all.

*Mom, dad and a couple siblings have a family cell phone plan and dad was in the shop one day helping someone get a new phone or something.  The cell phone guy told dad that from now on he has to use his cell phone at least one minute a month because he's the primary name on the account.  Dad had not been using his cell phone at least ONE MINUTE a month!