Finally, our phone and internet service is restored. I'm celebrating at last! Here's the rest of the story:
The ATT repairman that came out today must have been part of their "A" team because...unlike the first guy who came on Friday...this guy knew what he was doing. The first thing he did was replace our "ini" box...where the phone line comes into the house. It had corroded. When that didn't fix the problem, he went on a search mission and ultimately found a short in one of our jack outlets. When that got corrected, phone service happened. He then proceeded to restore my internet service...saving me about $80 for a new modem AND having to call tech support. And oh yeah...he said his print out showed we have the maintenance plan, so there would be no charge for either visit. I didn't know that...nice surprise!
To ATT's credit, a quality control representative came to the door later to see if all was now OK. She seemed empathetic as she listened to my tale of woe and she acknowledged the problems that seem to be inherent in their being "big" and "complex". Having worked for Miami-Dade County, I recognized the look in her eye and the tone of her voice as she apologized.
I don't know if I'm going to keep local phone service with ATT or not, but today's team has at least left them in a viable position.