A Weekend Without A Phone

My house phone has been out of order for the past few days. No messages waiting. No phone calls coming in or going out. Finally after three days the phone company came today and found the problem. It seems that one of my phones was causing all of the phones to be inoperable. We've disconnected that phone and now the other two phones seem to be working. Thank goodness that we have cell phones to use as a back up. How else could I have called the phone company?