Flashback a few decades to the days when phone records are still on paper, and this pilot fish works in a local phone company office that handles residential service.

“One day I took a call from an elderly customer who complained that his phone line was dead,” says fish. “Normally this would be a repair call, but on calling repair he was told to call the phone company office to speak to us about it.

“I went to the files where the records of phone service were kept and found a disconnect order for the number, written up by a fellow rep named Fred who classified it as ‘abandoned service.'”

Fish knows what that probably means: Many older homeowners in the area are selling their houses, which are then rented out by the new owners. But if for some reason the original homeowners don’t have their phones disconnected, the new renters discover they have free phone service — and when the bills go unpaid for a few months, the phone company writes them off as uncollectable and issues an “abandoned service” disconnect order.

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