Phone call

I forgot that whenever mom switches phone companies or buys something like a new computer, it's best to drop everything and wait at home for her to call. She's done both recently, and I was caught out and about when she called.

A.: Hello?
Mom: Hey. So you won't believe what they've done...

A., not out loud: Crap... do I sense a nascent complaint letter taking form? Should I stop her now before she gets too far into the details to let her know that I'm in no position to take notes or otherwise retain the key parts of whatever she's about to tell me? Because it's not like she'd ever ask, and last time she was livid after she got through the whole story, then informed me that I'd be writing a complaint letter, only to learn, when she let me get a word in edgewise, that I was out shopping, hands busy at all, and that she'd have to go over everything again.

Mom: ...they put in an eBay toolbar, and a Norton toolbar, but not a Yahoo toolbar!
A., not out loud: Oh, thank goodness! "They" is not Verizon.
A., out loud: Mom, that's easy to fix. Right-click on the toolbar...
Mom: No, that's not going to work... there's no way to fix it. Not only that, but there's all this stuff to set up--a password just to log in! Why would I need a password?
A.: You need a password...
Mom: What's that noise? Where are you?
A.: Outside... I can talk you through fixing the toolbar when I get home.
Mom: No, no-- I was just calling to vent. That's it. Bye.
A.: Bye.