Paper Books or Digital Books?

There was a time, and perhaps the debate is still going on, that there were two sides about reading. There were books and then there were comic books. I can remember some of my teachers confiscating comic books, usually from boys who were deep into reading the stories. Even as a child, I would think to myself that at least they are reading! This was during "DEAR" time. (Drop Everything And Read!) They were not skipping out on reading an assignment. It was a free reading time that was meant to encourage reading. Something just did not seem right about this practice. My two cents did not count in this kind of debate. Once I became a teacher, I could make my DEAR time however I wanted to make it. Just READ.

Now it seems there is a debate concerning paper books or digital books. Paper books are physical books that may be paperback or hard cover. Digital books are downloaded onto E-reader notebooks such as Kindles, IPads, IPhones or other tablets that support these downloads. 

From the very beginning I put my nose up in the air at such a thing as a digital book and reading from a Kindle. Years went by before I even vaguely became curious, as I noticed more and more people reading them in waiting rooms, airports, or other places where a person may have some time to spare with nothing to do but wait. 

My husband never leaves the house without his book if he is headed to any place where there could be waiting. I thought of doing that, and even tried it a few times and unless it was a smallish book, it was uncomfortable to tote it in along with my handbag. 

This is when I finally tried out a free e-book offer from an author friend on Twitter. I had to have a month of daily appointments at a clinic and it was the perfect time to have something to read. It worked out beautifully. Yet I found that I still missed holding a real book. Holding the Kindle just was not the same feeling.

In my head I thought of the pros and cons of each type of book. Basically, I came to the conclusion that for me there was a time and a place for both. Just because I grew up with books all around me and found them comforting, I am not too old to learn new tricks, so to speak. 

• A Kindle can have a whole library of books on it whereas if you were going on a trip or vacation and needed 2 - 3 books, your luggage would be weighted down.
• Getting the book that you want to read immediately on Amazon gives you that instant gratification. You could order a book on Amazon and if you had Amazon Prime have it in two days or go out to a book store and buy it that very same day. How badly do you need that book that very minute?
• Many e-books are offered free, especially the classics and new authors. Even so, most of the time Kindle books are less expensive than hard cover books. Yes, you could buy paperback books, however, my husband and I both prefer the hard cover over paperback, so this is my reasoning for comparing them.
• Kindle books have the wonderful ability to touch a word and instantly get the definition of it. I must say that if I am reading a hard back book, there are times that I either use context clues or wait and check it later if my IPhone is not handy to google it.
• A friend once told me that she loved sitting in a bubble bath with a glass of wine and a good book. This is something I could not do with a digital book nor a hard cover. It would be too risky to drop it in the water, or get water on the pages as the pages are turned or water as you swipe to turn the page on the Kindle. Just lean back and close your eyes and relax. 

One interesting piece of information that I found was that studies have been done that prove there are tactile differences in how people recall events in a story based on whether they are reading it from an e book or a paper book. The research shows that e book readers do significantly worse on plot reconstruction such as list 14 events in the order that they took place. Paper book readers had a high level of correct emotional responses that showed there was a breakdown of mental reconstruction for e readers over paper book readers.

Everyone must make their own decision. I still will be the one standing tall and just saying, "JUST READ!"

In case you are wondering, yes, I have made my choice. I use both. Definitely, hard cover more often but I always have a book or two on my Kindle to read while I am out for an appointment. I tend to put books on it that will not matter if I get back to the story line in a week or so. While I am home, I get the comforting feeling of just holding a good book in my hands. 

 Let me end by sharing something that I found that really gets to the real reason that I prefer hard cover books. A 'digital book' can't be infused with smells, can't press flowers in-between its pages. It can't contain the teardrops that fell as you read the sad parts or the accidental coffee stains. No, only a real book can do those things. I saw this in a magazine and no longer can find it so I know the quote is not exactly right, but this says all that I believe about books.

Growing Accustomed to Civilization

Let me be the first to say that I would not have survived very long during the cavemen days. This is why I do not enjoy camping out and have a hard time understanding what joy others get out of it. Really, I do try to not be judgmental, simply by saying to each his own. If it floats your boat, then by all means go for it as long as it does not harm others. As for me, camping out means living without the wonders of civilization. Even though inventions have come along that supposedly make it easier for the modern camper, it is still not for me.

My last blog was late due to a storm knocking out power. Even after that was restored, there still was no Internet, which meant no blog. Nice thing though...it was still some light outside. My husband and I did gather some candles and flashlights for our use when dusk did arrive and if electricity did not.

Just to let you know, I am well aware that we are not alone in how we handled the power outage. Others have shared what they went through in their homes. We read and I did a little writing. We did have to go out for some errands...first problem: no electric garage opener. Luckily our manual toggle worked just fine and we got out. Our hopes were that when we returned that all would have been fixed. Nope! So, once again handling the garage manually. Not really a giant of a deal. Just a little item that we take for granted.

When we came in and settled, I said, without thinking, that I would go start dinner. Oh really? Well, first the oven won't be cooking and we dare not open the refrigerator/freezer in order to keep what is in there cold.

So kind of back to square one. Reading was still okay. I lit a few candles, not that they really helped in the dusk of our study, but I was trying to stay positive and I deemed that they added ambiance.

After a while, I had the great idea of going for a hot jacuzzi bubble bath with a glass of wine. Well, I could use up what hot water there was from the electric hot water heaters, there would be no Jacuzzi bubbles going on and only wine if I dared open the fridge door to get the chardonnay out. There is nothing worse, in my opinion, than a warm chardonnay.

It seemed like everything that we thought of required electricity. We are just used to what we have been brought up with. Like air conditioning! How in the world did we survive without it. Well, for one thing, we did not know any better. I can remember being in school up on the 3rd floor with a fan on in the room, windows open and pools of sweat dripping onto the floor from everyone's legs. I am sure there was not a lot of teaching going on, much less student's grasping concepts. 

The way that we live in today's times will be looked back on as being antiquated and the same questions asked. How did they live without this or that? My only answer is that you do what you have to do for survival. Even if it is only a storm that adds a bit of inconvenience to those who lose power. It is not a forever deal so just get on with it and shake it off!

Think About It!

This blog is a little different from most of my blogs. As I was reading an article from Cheatsheet written by L. Hamer, I continued to be more amazed that there are people 'out there' who don't think things through. For the sake of having the information that I am about to share with you organized, I will list the products from the article that are apparently not worth buying, plus the reason why and what could possibly be substituted. 

• Paper Towels - These are a waste of money and resources and will harm the environment. It seems that consumers should be using cloth tea towels or purchase packets of microfiber cloths. They can be washed a few times before tossing them. Mind you, they cost more and on top of everything else we must use detergents, water and electricity to clean them. Seems to me that this is a waste of resources and still harms the environment by tossing them in the trash.
• Alkaline Batteries - It is not cost efficient to purchase regular batteries. Once they are used up we simply toss them in the trash. It is much better to use alkaline because they can be recharged. They cost more and you will need spare ones to use while one is being recharged, as well as the kit to recharge. One last word here...I tried this for a short while. I did not have great luck recharging. It seems as though the charging unit could not give the battery enough lasting power. 
• Detergent Pods - The reason stated here was simply that powder performs better and lasts longer. Says who? Now I will agree that the big plastic container that the Pods come in may not be good for the environment. However, let's not forget the big tall plastic detergent bottles. My point being they are one in the same. Now consumers have the choice of purchasing packets of Pods to refill their plastic containers. Can liquid laundry soap claim this?
• Single Serve Coffee Pods - This time the article used Business Insider as a resource for doing the math as to which was more cost effective, a pound of coffee or the Coffee Pods. Math has never truly been my strong point, however, even I can see the pound of coffee costs less. Here is where you need to think about it. I am the only coffee drinker in the house. Usually only one 10 oz. cup of coffee. When I made the coffee in the coffee maker, I poured coffee down the drain each evening. You really can't make good coffee if you are trying to make less than 3 cups. 
• Paper Coffee Filters - While we are on the subject of coffee, did you know that you do not need to buy those paper coffee filters? That had to come from a non coffee drinking person. I for one, do not want coffee grinds to get into my cup of coffee, nor do I want to try to clean the grinds out of the filter already in place. Think about it!
• Tea Bags - Now let's get right to it. I don't need Business Insider to do my math. Depending on the quality of the tea, there is no difference in the price of tea bags vs. loose leaf tea. Again, this article is all about the environment. Those tea bags must take hundreds of years to disintegrate.  
• Bottled Water - Sometimes it is just more convenient to carry around a throw away plastic water bottle in order to stay hydrated. My Yeti costs a bit more if I forget and leave it someplace. Plus, the smaller water bottles work well going in my handbag. Walk through a grocery store and look around. Almost all of the liquids are stored in plastic bottles. Perhaps we should work on having recycle trash pick up. Over twenty years ago we had it where I used to live. In fact, homeowners were fined if they did not participate. I now live in a large metropolitan area and we still do not have it. 
• Plastic Straws - Yet again it is all about the environment. Forget the patient who needs a flexible straw to get liquid in his body. Forget putting two straws in a milkshake and sharing with a friend or the big smile that children have on their faces when handed a straw to drink from. Apparently, reusable paper and steel straws are now available. My question is how do you clean them properly. Some liquids dry up inside the straws and it would not be sanitary to try soaking them. Putting one end up to your eye is not going to let you see all of the germs left behind. This just totally grosses me out.
• Take-Away Food - In all fairness, my husband and I have found it cheaper in many cases to order out from certain restaurants. In today's times the portions are often humongous. We have the option of getting one meal and sharing it or getting our own and saving the other half for lunch the next day. It seems to be basically about the food containers. I just don't get it. The food that we buy in the grocery stores are in containers, are they not?
• Paper Plates and Cups - We are harming our environment if we use these. When having a cookout or party we should buy plates and cups that are made of plastic. Then, you can have all of that fun washing them by hand since they do not do well in the dishwasher. Oh, by the way, if you are like me, you have all the space in the world to store them. At least I know the paper ones will be going, going, gone soon. I will share with you something to use in place of plastic forks, spoons and knives, none of which work well due to their flimsiness. They get tossed right along with the paper plates. In many stores there are boxes of forks, spoons and knives that look like real silverware. They actually are plastic, just a heavy duty one. I will actually put these in the dishwasher. When trying to eat a steak, you don't have to worry that a tine on a fork is going to fly across the table.
• Plastic Wrap and Foil - Of course, Tubberware will help to save the environment, no matter that water and dish soap are used, plus electricity if a dishwater is used. Moving right into this area of discussion is wasting money on zip lock baggies. Did you know there is such a thing as reusable  zip locks? I have one question...how do we clean them? 
• Lunch Box Size Food Items - What a convenient way to waste your money! If you have children who carry their lunchboxes to school you should buy the big bag of chips or desserts and manually divide it up. Most of the containers do not fit well in the lunch boxes. Unless you have a large family, the food will go stale before you get to it. 
• Disposable cameras - Really? I had no idea that they still made disposable cameras. (They really do, I had to look that one up on Google.)Except for photographers you barely see real cameras anymore. Everyone pulls out their cell phones to snap pics these days. I just figured the author was coming to the end of what he could list as a money waster.

After reading this, I did come to the conclusion that basically this article was more from an environmental point of view, which I am not against. I just believe that the governments should buy into this and provide recycle pick ups. The next major hurdle is to get the manufacturers to work on their packaging. We do need to be mindful of the trash that we create. It will take teamwork.

P.S. The reason this blog is so late being published is due to the fact that we had a big storm come through and we had no power for over 6 hours. Then, we counted our blessings because we finally had electricity, which meant air and lights. It was more than 24 hours later that we finally had Internet for me to publish this blog. More about that topic on my next blog.

Don't Sweat It!

Most of us have either read or are familiar with what the series of books that have Don't Sweat the Small Stuff by Richard Carlson promotes. It is positivity and something that we all need to keep in mind. 

For me, I have to say that I live by the motto above. I just modified the original concept a bit for myself. It is ALL small stuff and life is all about the small stuff. Now, believe me, I know plenty of people who like to turn the small stuff into major catastrophes. I am sure that you know some of these drama kings and queens too. Truly, most everything is small stuff. The question that I ask myself is just how major do I want this to become. Anyone can make a mountain out of a mole hill with knee-jerk reactions.

Definitely, I am not perfect...I am human. There are times that I can be exactly like the woman in the poster above. Not often, because I have learned that perfection is not the goal, life is not an emergency, nor is it fair all of the time. Thoughts are much more powerful. Mindsets need to be strong in order to weed out the small stuff that is trying to grow larger than life right in front of our very eyes. This is when my creative side comes out to help me deal with sweating the small stuff and turning it around to make me happy.

Instead of overreacting and blowing incidents way out of proportion, I find some alone and just me time to think of possible outcomes. We all get to choose what makes us happy. First of all, I had to learn to throw the thought that it was not selfish to focus on my own happiness. Just as you are, so am I, deserving of being happy. In fact, I find that slowing down and being in the right mindset gives me more compassion and I end up encouraging others which becomes a circle of happiness that is shared.

Sweating the small stuff that makes me even the tiniest bit happier is what it is all about. These things may be considered so non-important to others and that is okay. Everyone needs to find the small stuff that brings them happiness. Some examples that I can share with you for myself is to get a specific type/color of pen that I love to write with (and I write a lot). It may be having my husband situate bird feeders outside of my office so that I can watch the birds come and go. What about having fresh fruit and veggies from the Farmers' Market? There is nothing like that first homegrown tomato! These are some of the little things that make up my happy thoughts.

When something bad happens, and let's get real, it happens all the time. Or when I am thinking in a negative manner there are ways to respond that are more positive and will help take you to your happy place. It takes practice. Let's say that a large group is coming over and I drop part of dinner on the floor. I could lose total control thinking that everything is ruined. In reality, taking a deep breath, and just going with the flow is the best response. What do I want to do about it? Go out and get something to replace it or see if there is something in the pantry to use? Or decide if we really needed it to begin with. 

My husband taught me about a word that one must be careful when using. It is the conjunction, 'but.' He said that when using it anything you say before the word 'but' is bull$%&#. I am going to tell you that this word is a magical word. How? Just read this:
If I am thinking that I am so out of shape and need to lose weight badly. If I say this often enough to myself, I will get to a point of hopelessness. However, If I say or think that I am so out of shape but I am now working out and eating healthy...it puts a much more positive spin on my outlook. It takes me down the right path. 

Life is not always perfect. That is not the goal. We all have our sad moments, the question is how long do you want to remain there? If life gives you lemons, make some lemonade or even better when it is five o'clock somewhere...if life gives you limes, make some margaritas! Muy bien!

Getting It All Done!

Definitely when I was in a 'regular' type job, this could have been a picture of how most of my days were. There never seemed to be enough time in the day to get it all done. The only way that I learned to take control of my day and therefore to be more productive was to plan. Even though I am now retired from that type of job, I can honestly say, I don't have the overwhelming feelings from people above me on the ladder, yet there are still days that pop up where there is just not enough time in the day to accomplish what I want.

This means looking at how to reel myself back into the reality of getting things done that I need to click off my list. The one good thing is that it is "my" list. That is the beauty of retirement. When I say reeling myself back into the reality, I mean finding where I am wasting time. This, I know for a fact, I am very good at doing.

Being a writer of blogs, as well as working on my book, I MUST set goals. That is just how my mind operates. There are better ways than others to help anyone work more efficiently, no matter what their jobs may be. There is not a class to take that teaches us how to work. Everyone is different, and everyone must find their own bad habits and how to eradicate  them. It helps if you have some support around you. 

Somehow most of us just fall into the routine of failing to plan for the day, wasting our time on low level tasks and allow procrastination to start sneaking in to us. For me, I know that I do start my day with high hopes of getting right down to it. First things first, I must have my coffee. That is a MUST! Then to have a moment of quiet meditation to get into my positive mantra for the day. Yes, for me, that means putting it up on my FaceBook page. This is a dangerous move on my part. Sometimes (rarely) I can zoom right on through without reading other posts, knowing that I can do that in the afternoon when my creativity is not as high. 

From there I look over my agenda which I made at the end of the day before. It is my plan of what is top priority. This is easy to be distracted from if I am not careful and apparently I am not alone. I rather like to check my e mails, delete the ones that are junk or get unsubscribed when possible, I tend to get side tracked in the news items that pop up. Some stories are just not worth taking the time to read. All it is doing is cluttering my brainwaves. It is my belief that it is a way to allow procrastination to come rolling in.To help ease my guilt, I will use this time to get my breakfast so that I am eating while reading. Probably not the best for digestion. It works for me.

Keeping the sounds off on my phone and computer is a big help in order to not get pulled in to check on e mails. I read that checking two times a day is enough. For me? I prefer three times. The one at lunch time is important because there may be an item that needs immediate action. If I waited till the end of the day, it may be too late to do anything about until the next day. A great quote:

Before I started planning more effectively, I read an article about tracking my habits. This was eye opening, for sure. I knew that I seemed to not have enough time in my day but where did it go? It really showed me that I needed to set my own rules and get rid of the distractions. I used this information as a power tool. Now I was able to work on the bad habits and focus on improvement. Nobody is too busy; it is just a matter of priorities!

Mind, Body and Soul

Many times my blog is about what I need to hear for myself and therefore if anyone else cares about that topic then it is out there for them to read if they so desire. The one thing that I work hard on is trying not to sound as if I am preaching. I am just like everyone else; finding my own path and knowing which doors to open for myself. We all are in charge of our own happiness.

For me this means all of my body, soul and mind involved in finding what will make me happy. Some things are simple little things, such as keeping my working space in order, getting a manicure when needed, having five minutes of meditating my positive mantra of the day, etc. Then there are other times that I jump in feet first and go for a big plunge just because I have an awareness that it will help me discover more of the happiness that I want to build on. 

The quote (of which many different people take credit for) that states if you keep doing things the same way then you should expect the same results. Finally, my light bulb above my head flipped on bright. It took a friend to share what he was going through to make me see it.

One thing that did not make me feel very happy was to get dressed in the morning because of my weight. I needed to take control. No one else could do it for me. When my friend shared that he was on a very special plan that is working so well for him, as well as others, then my positive thinking went into overdrive. There were several reasons why. First of all no one was selling anything. We as Americans spend way too much money on diet centers and clinics, not to mention the meds they give you or the diet foods in the grocery store. 

For this plan you only watch a very amusing YOUTUBE video and make your own mind up if this is what would make you happy. I was working on my mindset that I needed to think of all the positives about myself. Lighten up (no pun intended)! So I did watch the YOUTUBE video called, Butter Makes Your Pants Fall Off. 

When I watched it, as well as other videos that popped up with this one, I thought to myself that this is something that I can do. First of all, let me stress that each person has to know why they want to lose the extra pounds. Basically, it has to be for yourself, to make you happier. When you are happy, those around you are happy. To know that I am doing this to become healthier and to be around longer with those that I love is a fantastic reason to go for it. A plus side of it is to not have to fight off my mind, body and soul voices each morning, all telling me how I look. MINDSET! I am going into each day with my voice telling me how I look and feel. Marvelous!

This program needs to be kept simple or people like me can become overwhelmed. It basically is a low-carb, high-fat diet with moderate proteins. I read about it, I listened and watched, however, I do not need all of the little details. Just tell me how many carbs I need to have in a day. "Just the facts, Mam!"

Believe me when I say that I already knew that I had an obsession with bread. The more that I talked and read about those who were losing weight did it by cutting out soft drinks, sugar, flour, and starchy foods the more that I believed that I could do it too. The first week that I was on the plan, I had a luncheon to go to at a very nice restaurant. Their hamburgers were amazing. Instead of whining that I could not have this or that, I made it work for me. I chose the guacamole burger. The beautiful brioche bun went to the side. A bit of Dijon mustard with the lettuce, tomato and onion slice, along with the guacamole made a culinary masterpiece. The good news is that it equaled out to exactly what I should have in low-carb, high-fat, and moderate protein meal. As a side item I had the chef's roasted garlic asparagus. It made me feel so proud and spurred me on to keep this going.

Getting over that everything has to be about food is work in progress. We all have the freedom over choosing what we want. This is a life changer for me. To throw in little surprises at times also helps. Having a sparkling water delivered to the table or sipping it at home gives me a special delight! It reminds me to never, ever give up on me. "Success consists of getting up just one more time than I fall." These are Oliver Goldsmith's words. I am fairly certain that he was not talking about how many net carbs you went over for your day, yet it surely does fit my MINDSET. 

Change is possible. There must be planning involved for me and then I can go for it. Each day, I spend a little time reading more about what to eat, what to avoid and am learning not to beat myself up over too many carbs. Everything that I have read says to work on the 20 - 30 carbs a day. When you get to your desired weight, you can have a day here and there where you may go over some. It is called life.  

Communication Meltdown!

It seems as if the phones in our household are ringing more often than usual. It is lovely to hear from our children and grandchildren and other family and friends. It is annoying to be in the middle of something or simply just chillin' and have the phone ring only to be a telemarketer. Some total stranger taking up our time. Some are for real and some are scams. Even the 'for real' telemarketers are not wanted by most. If you are like me, if I need something, I have a phone and I know who I want to call. Certainly I am not going to buy it from some stranger calling me on the phone.

Many people across the country are having this problem. After doing a bit of research an interesting fact that I came across was that even with the so-called better telemarketers have a 96% chance of getting turned down. This may explain why they are so relentless in pulling us into their web of selling.

Depending on the company, you might be surprised at just how much information they have about you. Some of the smaller firms may just have your name and phone number, while others may have your address also, plus much more than you can ever imagine.

You can put your phone numbers on the Do Not Call Registry. Hmmmm...I have all three of our numbers on this list. Still, we can get anywhere from 4 - 12 phone calls a day. Then there are apps for cell phones, some of which are free and others charge a fee. The problem here is that calls are blocked that are not on your own private call list or you see the number and choose to accept or decline. This will not work for me due to the fact that I have companies returning calls that I may not have in my call list and I would miss important information that I need.

All of your calls that you do not answer can go to Google Voice, if you get that set up. (no fee) If I already have voice mail then why have another one? One of the last resorts is to look up the number that called you on the internet. There is a lot of spoofing going on, which means the number showing up is not the real company number calling you. There is always the FTC that you can call for help at 1-877-FTC-HELP or write at www.ftc.gov.

To me, it used to be quite easy to get rid of a live human telemarketer just by interrupting their script and asking them again who their company is because I need it to report them to the FTC. That always was an instant CLICK. This always put a smile on my face.
You can't do this if it is a recording. The only recourse is just to hang up and press block number on your phone. Not quite as satisfying.

Let me share with you that I know someone who when he has the time, likes to play the telemarketer for all he or she is worth. You may want to try it yourself. First example is one that most people have received from a person with a heavy, thick accent who says his name is Bob and he is with Microsoft Windows and that our computer has a major problem that he is calling to help fix the problem. My husband has tried several different tactics. One was to tell Bob that there are no computers in this household. CLICK.

Another example is to let Bob tell him from his script of what he needs to do to help him help fix the problem. He asks for all kinds of information that he should not have. Steve gives him false numbers and tells him yes, that he has clicked that key on the keypad and for about 3 - 4 minutes had Bob very excited that he had someone who took the bait. Then when Steve had all he could take, he shared with Bob that he just wasted his scamming time.  None of the information that was told to him was true, in fact, the computer was not even turned on. CLICK.

Let me end with two humorous stories. There are some calls that are for real. One was a lady calling for her non-profit agency selling hummingbird feeders. Steve has a big heart and knew this to be a real company and decided to buy a few for Christmas gifts. They arrived and they were quite beautiful. End of story? Oh no! He bought once so she came after him again about 4 months later. Only this time I answered the phone. Once I knew who she was, I told her that we were not interested in buying more or anything else at this time and please put us on her do not call list. Let me say, that this #%$#@ had the nerve to try again a few days later. Steve answered the phone. She told him that she had called and had spoken to a very rude woman. Then she went into her sales pitch with Steve. He told her that he was not interested at this time with lots of patience because she was not giving up. I am proud of him. He stuck to his words and finally she gave up.

Last story is about me (hard-hearted Hannah) giving in to a call from the local Fire Fighters Committee that sells tickets to concerts of older bands that never really made it big, yet most people know of them. The tickets were not much money and I thought that maybe we would go. It turned out we couldn't go, however, I was able to give the tickets to an assistant who worked very hard for me on a major project. She was extremely thankful. 

This is a once a year sales contest for the Fire Fighters. Steve knew the story and when the guy asked to speak to me by my first name he told him that I was not available. This man asked when I would be returning and my husband went into a sob story about he had no idea. He told him that I had run off with some man and it is breaking his heart. This poor man started talking to Steve as if they were long lost friends and told him that he knows how it feels. He is so sorry. 

End of story? Not quite! The next year the very same guy called back and Steve answered the phone. This man had remembered the conversation and asked if I ever returned. He said that I was out of the picture now. So Mr. Firefighter just said that he was sorry and did not try to sell or bother us again.

Moral to this whole telemarketer blog. Let them stress you out or have a little fun with them. When the phone rings there is no need to drop everything and run to answer it. Those who know you and need you will leave a message and you can call them after dinner or when you have time. Telemarketers will just move on to their next victim.