On Mon 05 Jan 2009 12:19:34a, Dick Adams told us...

wrote:
I finally got rid of my telephone. After years of living with that
annoying thing, with advertisers calling every day 24 hours a day, I
finally had enouh, and got rid of the phone forever. Now I can get
some rest, my health has improved because I am sleeping normally
again, and I am not nearly as stressed because of calls from my
psychotic mother-in-law calling to tell me she is committing suicide.

How fortunate you are to have mother-in-law who wants to commit
suicide! If I were you, I'd keep the phone if only to provide
her with encouragement and helpful hints.

I also dont miss all the people calling and often wasting a full hour
of my time for some goddamn survey, and those annoying bill collectors
who insist on calling five times each and every day after I clearly
told them I paid as much as I could for the month and can not pay more
until next month. Yet they continue to call and cus and threaten me
each and every day. But no more!

Alas not having a phone will frustrate bill collectors. Many
years ago when my first wife spent money like a drunken sailor,
I used an answering machine with a message that said "This phone
is never answered by a person. Leave a name and a phone number
and your call may be returned."

Currently we have cable for TV and broadband Internet, and a land line that
is attached only to our fax machine with audible ringing turned off. We
use our cell phones for all vocal communication.

When we had wired phones in the house, we had an answering machine that was
capable of delivering a greeting only, then terminating the call leaving no
opportunity for the caller to leave a message. Our outgoing message was,
"This number does not receive incoming calls. Please do not call back."
It was set to answer on the first ring.



I dont miss the phone at all, in fact I never want to see another
phone in or near my home.

I only have one concern. If my house was to start on fire, who or
where do I send an email for help?

Hopefully you have a UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) in case your
electricity goes out. But that won't be much help if your cable
connection is lost in the fire.

If you don't owe your neighbors money, you can use their phone -
unless the phone company disconnected them too.

The best solution is to get a 911 only cell phone. If you kept
your cell phone after your cellular provider shut you down, it
will still work for dialing 911.

Dick



--
Wayne Boatwright
(correct the spelling of "geemail" to reply)
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Date: Monday, 01(I)/05(V)/09(MMIX)
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Countdown till Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
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I snore. I don't care. I don't have to. I'm *asleep*.
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