TRADITIONS

What’s up with the time and temp number?

By Sam Pfeifle

For years, Portlanders who’ve found themselves in a strange locale without a watch could be sure of one thing: they could ascertain the local time and temperature at the push of a few buttons. 775-4321. Until about a month ago, that is.

You may have noticed that the number is no longer in operation. In fact, if you call it, it says that the number is “currently being repaired,” in a manly, not very operator-like voice recording. What’s going on?

“The long and short of it is that it was an equipment malfunction,” says Peter Reilly, spokesperson for Verizon, which provides the service free of charge. The automated system, which has been in continuous operation since the 1950s, finally broke down. “The service,” Reilly assures us, “is in the process of being restored.”

They had to contract with an outside vendor to fix it, and, though the hardware has been installed, Reilly says they are “working with the equipment vendor to get its software functioning, and hopes to get it back on line in the near future.”

If you’re really in a bind, you could call the national weather service, a national number, at 976-1212, but you’ll pay for it.