By HNN Staff
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Veterinarian Claire Simeone knows better than anyone that animals can ... complicate things. But a recent episode with a little green intruder surprised even her.
And she documented the whole thing on Twitter, to the delight of thousands.
You are not going to BELIEVE this story. It’s one of the best things I’ve experienced this year. Hold on tight for this roller coaster. pic.twitter.com/R0SfmgS0bn
— Dr. Claire Simeone (@Claire_Simeone) October 5, 2018
It started harmlessly enough.
Simeone is the director at the Ke Kai Ola Hawaiian Monk Seal Hospital in Kailua-Kona and was out of the office last week grabbing lunch when she started getting strange phone calls from the facility.
“I thought maybe someone had a seal-related question. I picked up. Silence,” she wrote on Twitter.
So yesterday I started getting calls at our hospital, #KeKaiOla @TMMC. I was getting lunch, so I thought maybe someone had a seal-related question. I picked up. Silence. pic.twitter.com/yX6aziwoHz
— Dr. Claire Simeone (@Claire_Simeone) October 5, 2018
The calls kept coming in. Nine calls in 15 minutes, to be exact.
She headed back to the office, worried now that there might be a seal emergency.
But when she got back to the hospital "all is calm."
I arrive. All is calm. Did anyone call me? No one did. I get another call. It’s coming from INSIDE the hospital. So I call @HawaiianTel to check it out. Phone on the fritz? Meanwhile, several other people call the hospital, asking WHY WE ARE CALLING THEM INCESSANTLY? pic.twitter.com/r59Hoxgk1z
— Dr. Claire Simeone (@Claire_Simeone) October 5, 2018
She asked if anyone had tried to call her. No one had.
And at that moment, she got another call — coming from inside the hospital.
She answered. Silence. Again.
Puzzled, she called Hawaiian Telcom. What's up with all these calls?
As she tried to troubleshoot, people started phoning the hospital, complaining about “incessant” calls, too.
And Hawaiian Telcom confirmed to Simeone that “a bazillion calls” had been made from a line at the hospital.
So Simeone started to search — looking for the phone on the fritz.
Very nice @HawaiianTel man says it might be an issue with one of our phones, or some of the software. He confirms that, yes, a bazillion calls are coming from one line. But I look at our office line. It’s not that one. He asks me to look around to find the problem line. pic.twitter.com/QcrMjVCG4X
— Dr. Claire Simeone (@Claire_Simeone) October 5, 2018
“I walk around the hospital. Not the fish kitchen. Not the office. Not the viewing room,” Simeone wrote on Twitter.
And then, another call, just as Simeone is headed to the laboratory.
And that’s where she sees it — something so surprising she needed to write in all caps: “A GECKO SITTING ON THE TOUCHSCREEN OF THE PHONE, MAKING CALLS WITH HIS TINY GECKO FEET!!!”
THERE IS A GECKO SITTING ON THE TOUCHSCREEN OF THE PHONE, MAKING CALLS WITH HIS TINY GECKO FEET!!! This gecko has called me 15 times, and everyone in our recent call list. *Actual photo of telemarketer* @TMMC @GEICO @HawaiianTel pic.twitter.com/USyKeOiDbE
— Dr. Claire Simeone (@Claire_Simeone) October 5, 2018
Simeone was at first flabbergasted, then she was overjoyed. “I had to send out a note to all of our staff and volunteers, who may have received calls. I immediately hired gecko,” she quipped.
Simeone’s Twitter thread left lots of other folks on social media in giggles, too.
“That’s the most Hawaii thing I’ve ever read,” one user replied.
And more than a few people made the connection to Geico’s cold-blooded mascot.
“Just take a few minutes and talk to him about your insurance,” one user wrote. “You could save a few bucks.”
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