Unfortunately goober-breath showed up. Sigh. I tried not to let him get to me, but he moved one mat closer again. There are lots of people pushing big weights in the gym that breathe quieter, and grunt less than he does. 2 more classes, and with any luck he won't show up next year.
Even though there is a postal strike happening, good things should be coming soon via UPS or Fedex. My bamboo case for the iPad, and a case for Linda to store jewelry in.
I took a look at my blog stats lately and was astonished. It seems that either my existing readers have decided to catch up on all the blogs they've missed. Or I've got a bunch of new readers on June 7 all of a sudden that are not leaving comments. But SOMETHING sure changed. I'm pleased and happy, and welcome my new readers, if there are new readers. Thank you for dropping by. Please leave a comment and say hi. Here's a graph to show you what I mean.
I'm mildly amused by the postal strike. We don't get much real mail anymore, and this strike will have me converting what little mail there is to come as email. Bills mainly. And then the mail box will become like our house phone. We'll check it once in a while, but that's all. We don't ever answer the house phone unless someone has arranged it. We wait for the answering machine, and if nobody talks to it, we don't pick up. Even if someone does talk, we might not pick up. I have to be convinced that it's someone I want to talk to. It's worth the $20 a month to have a phone number to give to people I don't want to talk to.
Unless I'm in the mood to torment telemarketers or pollsters. Sometimes I love to play with their brains. I'll start by asking if the information I provide is valuable. They always say yes. Then I tell them my going rate is $10 a question, and can I have a PO number or a credit card number. That flummoxes them good, and then they go away. Even if I talk to a pollster, I routinely lie to them. Told one guy I was female, and when he complained I cut loose a tirade on sexism and gender politics that would have made my buddy Anne's day. Or, if I have lots of time, I'll keep them on the line as long as possible. Or if they've dived right into their spiel, I'll lay the phone down and walk away. Sometimes I'll ask the pollsters about the scientific validity of the poll, and how they are compensating for bias, and all sorts of other stuff gleaned from a stats class way back in the day.
Do you ever torment the junk callers? Any fave tactics you'd like to share?
I say yes to every single question they ask, even if it blatantly contradicts and answer I've previously given. Eventually they just get frustrated and hang up on me.
ReplyDeleteBliss.
I am not so clever as to mess with them, but Betty tells me that when they ask if she's the "woman of the house" she says something like, "hold on, I'll go get her" then she just puts the phone on the table and lets whoever is listening on the other end listen to life in her house...
ReplyDeleteWe too spend $20 a month to have a phone number to give to people we don't want to talk to.
Other than junk calls, only the in-laws call on our house phone. I don't think my parents even know what our house # is...
ReplyDeleteI often won't read blogs for a few days so it may have been me that caused an increase in your blog stats. I tend to comment at least once though.
Not missing the mail delivery either. We check it once a week and even then it's mostly junk.