Hello? Is it me you're looking for? ...

As a result of last Wednesday, I've found myself listening more closely for the phone. We have a device on our phone called a telemarketing call screener. The contraption is handy but it can be bothersome. It's set to kick in after one ring. If it's a friend or family member calling, the screener device will ring in such a tone that it sounds a bit like a digital alarm clock - not quite as loud though. I really have to listen in case a call comes through. It's good for the fact that I don't have to listen to automated telemarketers on the answering machine. On the flipside, we can't hook our answering machine up through the screener. It simply won't pick up.

I do realize that telemarketers are human. LoL! For a brief period of time, I was a "research assistant" for a company which valued public opinion on different products and issues. We weren't promoting anything whatsoever. We would call people throughout the nation and ask for their opinion. The only cost to them was a few minutes of their time. Despite the fact that I wasn't selling anything, my ears nearly turned black and fell off due to being called everything but a white woman and screamed/cursed at in such a manner that a sailor would blush. I'd smile to myself, knowing full well I wasn't the crux of the anger. It's just a matter of timing.

Regardless, I don't want to listen to the spiel. In an attempt to abate the barrage of calls, I added our number to the National Do Not Call Registry. It could be my imagination but it does seem much quieter - or I'm going deaf. LoL!