Tall Ships and More Trouble With The Phone

It would have been a good day if AT & Terrible didn't decide to resume persecuting me.
Went to Ralph's and got makings for a slow cooker potato casserole--Idahos, peppers, onions, yellow squash and spices. I made it up when I got home, using the mandolin to slice. Boy, it made enough for about fifteen people, it looked like. I used both slow cookers, then dressed and left to meet Carole and Sue at the harbor.
The ships were very impressive and we took pictures of them, but we couldn't board, as a grade school class was on a field trip on them. That was okay with me, as I've toured such ships in Virginia and Massachusetts and when you've seen one...
Sue wanted to introduce us to The 805 bar and restaurant, formerly "The Dive," and that's where we went. It was mostly Cuban food and I had empanadas, ground beef in a flaky crust--very good. The owner came over to tell us he's opening a new restaurant next door, The Copa Cubana ("specializing in authentic Cuban cusine") and ten dinners would be free. We decided on the spot to go and entered the "contest" via test for the free dinners, which involves . I took Sue home, as Mac, her husband, had the car. I did so, then veered off the the library.
When I got home, I checked the potato dishes and they were both finished. Knocked on Suzanne's door, as I knew she had AT & T and I wanted to ask her about it. However, her involvement with them is just for Internet and T.V.; she uses a smart phone. We chatted a bit, then I stepped back into my place. Betty called just then and we had no sooner said hello than my phone went dead.
AAGH! I called her back on the cell phone and after we talked, I went through the same horrible routine of calling, being put on hold for interminable times, then being told they'd come on Monday. When I squawked about this, I was switched to repair and told the wait would be three minutes. By the clock, I waited 14, then hung us.
What's horribly confusing is that now the lack of a dial tone is sporadic--sometimes I have one and sometimes I don't. Also, when I use my cell to call, it doesn't ring at all. I give up.