I suppose this is OT but they seem to call when I'm cooking or eating
and I wonder if telephone solicitors etc. realize that most people don't
have old-fashioned phones without displays. As far as I can tell, if a
caller has "Unknown name", "Caller not available", shows the calling
phone number, etc., they are generally people I don't want to talk to. I
have almost made the decision to ignore any of those unknowns. I don't
think I'll lose much.


--
Jim Silverton (Potomac, MD)

Extraneous "not." in Reply To.

"James Silverton" > wrote in message
...
>I suppose this is OT but they seem to call when I'm cooking or eating and I
>wonder if telephone solicitors etc. realize that most people don't have
>old-fashioned phones without displays. As far as I can tell, if a caller
>has "Unknown name", "Caller not available", shows the calling phone number,
>etc., they are generally people I don't want to talk to. I have almost made
>the decision to ignore any of those unknowns. I don't think I'll lose much.

I have two corded phones and neither has caller ID. I finally put a
cordless in the kitchen so I can see who is calling. I frequently get
automated calls from the school when I am cooking.

On 01/05/2014 11:13 AM, James Silverton wrote:
> I suppose this is OT but they seem to call when I'm cooking or eating
> and I wonder if telephone solicitors etc. realize that most people don't
> have old-fashioned phones without displays. As far as I can tell, if a
> caller has "Unknown name", "Caller not available", shows the calling
> phone number, etc., they are generally people I don't want to talk to. I
> have almost made the decision to ignore any of those unknowns. I don't
> think I'll lose much.
>
>
That's my attitude as well and as they ring off when the answering
machine kicks in, I'm usually right.
Graham

On 2014-05-01, James Silverton > wrote:
> I suppose this is OT but they seem to call when I'm cooking or eating
> and I wonder if telephone solicitors etc. realize that most people don't
> have old-fashioned phones without displays. As far as I can tell, if a
> caller has "Unknown name", "Caller not available", shows the calling
> phone number, etc., they are generally people I don't want to talk to. I
> have almost made the decision to ignore any of those unknowns. I don't
> think I'll lose much.

Oh, I know! It's maddening.

I get these kinda calls, constantly. And I got phone ID and an
answering machine. The worst are, when you do decide to pick up,
there's no one there or there's some kinda extended delay between yer
pick-up and the beginning of some kinda annoying recording. I always
hang up about 2 secs after I say hello. Worse, I'd say 50%-60% of all
calls have "local call" (and it's not) or "private number" or "out of
area" on the msg ID. WTF! good is it? I hate telephones.

nb

On 2014-05-01 1:13 PM, James Silverton wrote:
> I suppose this is OT but they seem to call when I'm cooking or eating
> and I wonder if telephone solicitors etc. realize that most people don't
> have old-fashioned phones without displays. As far as I can tell, if a
> caller has "Unknown name", "Caller not available", shows the calling
> phone number, etc., they are generally people I don't want to talk to. I
> have almost made the decision to ignore any of those unknowns. I don't
> think I'll lose much.
>
>


I had one this morning that just showed Long Distance Caller. What the
heck. I was in no hurry. It turned out to be some organization that my
wife donated to a couple years ago when they said they were raising
money to digitized the memories of war veterans. There aren't too many
of those guys left, but they seem to be calling more and more often. I
congratulated him for being resourceful enough to have called from a
different number. He seemed a little confused so I explained that I had
blocked the old one. I told him that my wife had given a one time gift I
explained r that they are one of the reasons my wife and I no longer
donate to charities that want personal information because they just
keep calling for more.

He said he would take us off their list. I am betting they will cal back.

"notbob" > wrote in message
...
> On 2014-05-01, James Silverton > wrote:
>> I suppose this is OT but they seem to call when I'm cooking or eating
>> and I wonder if telephone solicitors etc. realize that most people don't
>> have old-fashioned phones without displays. As far as I can tell, if a
>> caller has "Unknown name", "Caller not available", shows the calling
>> phone number, etc., they are generally people I don't want to talk to. I
>> have almost made the decision to ignore any of those unknowns. I don't
>> think I'll lose much.
>
> Oh, I know! It's maddening.
>
> I get these kinda calls, constantly. And I got phone ID and an
> answering machine. The worst are, when you do decide to pick up,
> there's no one there or there's some kinda extended delay between yer
> pick-up and the beginning of some kinda annoying recording. I always
> hang up about 2 secs after I say hello. Worse, I'd say 50%-60% of all
> calls have "local call" (and it's not) or "private number" or "out of
> area" on the msg ID. WTF! good is it? I hate telephones.

The delay is the sign of a "predictive dialer" which is used in phone room
operations. It guesses when a current call is about to end and calls the
next number on its list. If it works properly the call will go through just
as
the prior call ends and the call operator can simply answer it in a normal
manner. If the prior call lasts a bit too long the new call is blank until
the
first one hangs up. This causes the pick-up delay. I also will hang up
after two seconds or so.

pavane

On 5/1/2014 1:20 PM, graham wrote:
> On 01/05/2014 11:13 AM, James Silverton wrote:
>> I suppose this is OT but they seem to call when I'm cooking or eating
>> and I wonder if telephone solicitors etc. realize that most people don't
>> have old-fashioned phones without displays. As far as I can tell, if a
>> caller has "Unknown name", "Caller not available", shows the calling
>> phone number, etc., they are generally people I don't want to talk to. I
>> have almost made the decision to ignore any of those unknowns. I don't
>> think I'll lose much.
>>
>>
> That's my attitude as well and as they ring off when the answering
> machine kicks in, I'm usually right.
>
Yes.
If it's important they can leave a message.
Unknown, not available, and private callers will be ignored - unless the
message shows that they are 'real', and I want to speak with them.

On 5/1/2014 12:28 PM, notbob wrote:

> Worse, I'd say 50%-60% of all
> calls have "local call" (and it's not) or "private number" or "out of
> area" on the msg ID. WTF! good is it? I hate telephones.

Well, it's telling you that the caller is hiding his or her identity.
That's a huge red flag. If they don't want you to know who they are
before you pick up the phone, they're up to no good. So you can safely
ignore anonymous calls.

On 5/1/2014 12:13 PM, James Silverton wrote:
> I suppose this is OT but they seem to call when I'm cooking or eating
> and I wonder if telephone solicitors etc. realize that most people don't
> have old-fashioned phones without displays. As far as I can tell, if a
> caller has "Unknown name", "Caller not available", shows the calling
> phone number, etc., they are generally people I don't want to talk to. I
> have almost made the decision to ignore any of those unknowns. I don't
> think I'll lose much.
>
>

I don't know how she did it, but when DH's cousin (who is also one of my
BFFs) calls the name that shows up on caller ID is "vilda chaya" which
is Yiddish for wild beast. Cracks me up.

--
Janet Wilder
Way-the-heck-south Texas
Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.

---
This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active.
http://www.avast.com

On 2014-05-01 3:10 PM, Moe DeLoughan wrote:

> Well, it's telling you that the caller is hiding his or her identity.
> That's a huge red flag. If they don't want you to know who they are
> before you pick up the phone, they're up to no good. So you can safely
> ignore anonymous calls.
>

True, but you never know. For some reason my wife's cousin's calls
always look suspicious. I have been tempted to ignore them, then answer
with some hesitation, and then I am surprised to hear her voice, which
is quite similar to that Carvel ice cream cake guy.

On 2014-05-01, Dave Smith > wrote:

> True, but you never know.

Yep. The hospital, the nursing home where my mom is, and my doctor,
all don't have a recognizable caller IDs, so these days I gotta pick
up almost all incoming calls during normal business hours. Another
****er. :|

nb

On 5/1/2014 1:13 PM, James Silverton wrote:
> I suppose this is OT but they seem to call when I'm cooking or eating
> and I wonder if telephone solicitors etc. realize that most people don't
> have old-fashioned phones without displays. As far as I can tell, if a
> caller has "Unknown name", "Caller not available", shows the calling
> phone number, etc., they are generally people I don't want to talk to. I
> have almost made the decision to ignore any of those unknowns. I don't
> think I'll lose much.
>
>

Caller ID used to ber great, but now we get a lot of calls from cell
phones that show the number and "wireless caller". If I know the
number, I pick it up. I do ignore some of the "unknown". If important,
they will leave a message.

If I see just a state name, it is a robo call, or Card Services I know
is junk and ignore.

"Dave Smith" > wrote in message
...
> On 2014-05-01 1:13 PM, James Silverton wrote:
>> I suppose this is OT but they seem to call when I'm cooking or eating
>> and I wonder if telephone solicitors etc. realize that most people don't
>> have old-fashioned phones without displays. As far as I can tell, if a
>> caller has "Unknown name", "Caller not available", shows the calling
>> phone number, etc., they are generally people I don't want to talk to. I
>> have almost made the decision to ignore any of those unknowns. I don't
>> think I'll lose much.
>>
>>
>
>
> I had one this morning that just showed Long Distance Caller. What the
> heck. I was in no hurry. It turned out to be some organization that my
> wife donated to a couple years ago when they said they were raising money
> to digitized the memories of war veterans. There aren't too many of those
> guys left, but they seem to be calling more and more often. I
> congratulated him for being resourceful enough to have called from a
> different number. He seemed a little confused so I explained that I had
> blocked the old one. I told him that my wife had given a one time gift I
> explained r that they are one of the reasons my wife and I no longer
> donate to charities that want personal information because they just keep
> calling for more
>
> He said he would take us off their list. I am betting they will cal back.

The same here Donate once and they are constantly asking for more. At
least they don't have a phone number and just write.

--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/

On 5/1/2014 3:53 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> On 5/1/2014 1:13 PM, James Silverton wrote:
>> I suppose this is OT but they seem to call when I'm cooking or eating
>> and I wonder if telephone solicitors etc. realize that most people don't
>> have old-fashioned phones without displays. As far as I can tell, if a
>> caller has "Unknown name", "Caller not available", shows the calling
>> phone number, etc., they are generally people I don't want to talk to. I
>> have almost made the decision to ignore any of those unknowns. I don't
>> think I'll lose much.
>>
>>
>
> Caller ID used to ber great, but now we get a lot of calls from cell
> phones that show the number and "wireless caller". If I know the
> number, I pick it up. I do ignore some of the "unknown". If important,
> they will leave a message.
>
> If I see just a state name, it is a robo call, or Card Services I know
> is junk and ignore.

My son only uses a cell phone (no land line) but his name appears on my
phone display so it appear that there's nothing stopping the bums from
identifying themselves.

--
Jim Silverton (Potomac, MD)

Extraneous "not." in Reply To.

On 5/1/2014 1:13 PM, James Silverton wrote:
> I suppose this is OT but they seem to call when I'm cooking or eating
> and I wonder if telephone solicitors etc. realize that most people don't
> have old-fashioned phones without displays. As far as I can tell, if a
> caller has "Unknown name", "Caller not available", shows the calling
> phone number, etc., they are generally people I don't want to talk to. I
> have almost made the decision to ignore any of those unknowns. I don't
> think I'll lose much.
>
>
It's a particular thorn in my side, especially these days. Lately I'm
getting calls from Unknown Caller with the phone number displayed as
000-000-0000. Can't exactly put that in the complaint for on the Do Not
Call Registry. They're getting trickier all the time. It's no wonder I
don't answer the phone most of the time.

Jill

On 5/1/2014 1:20 PM, graham wrote:
> On 01/05/2014 11:13 AM, James Silverton wrote:
>> I suppose this is OT but they seem to call when I'm cooking or eating
>> and I wonder if telephone solicitors etc. realize that most people don't
>> have old-fashioned phones without displays. As far as I can tell, if a
>> caller has "Unknown name", "Caller not available", shows the calling
>> phone number, etc., they are generally people I don't want to talk to. I
>> have almost made the decision to ignore any of those unknowns. I don't
>> think I'll lose much.
>>
>>
> That's my attitude as well and as they ring off when the answering
> machine kicks in, I'm usually right.
> Graham

Anyone who knows me knows to talk to the machine. IF I'm home and not
busy I'll answer. If they don't, tough luck. You don't get to talk to
me if you won't identify yourself.

Jill

On 2014-05-01, jmcquown > wrote:

> Call Registry. They're getting trickier all the time. It's no wonder I
> don't answer the phone most of the time.

My fave phone anecdote is the one about the ol' Southern Colonel. He
complained bitterly when they installed the newfangled crank phone in
his ol' plantation home, "Now, when the bell rings, I gotta come!".

nb

"Dave Smith" > wrote in message
...
> On 2014-05-01 1:13 PM, James Silverton wrote:
>> I suppose this is OT but they seem to call when I'm cooking or eating
>> and I wonder if telephone solicitors etc. realize that most people don't
>> have old-fashioned phones without displays. As far as I can tell, if a
>> caller has "Unknown name", "Caller not available", shows the calling
>> phone number, etc., they are generally people I don't want to talk to. I
>> have almost made the decision to ignore any of those unknowns. I don't
>> think I'll lose much.
>>
>>
>
>
> I had one this morning that just showed Long Distance Caller. What the
> heck. I was in no hurry. It turned out to be some organization that my
> wife donated to a couple years ago when they said they were raising money
> to digitized the memories of war veterans. There aren't too many of those
> guys left, but they seem to be calling more and more often. I
> congratulated him for being resourceful enough to have called from a
> different number. He seemed a little confused so I explained that I had
> blocked the old one. I told him that my wife had given a one time gift I
> explained r that they are one of the reasons my wife and I no longer
> donate to charities that want personal information because they just keep
> calling for more.
>
> He said he would take us off their list. I am betting they will cal back.

I'll back that bet, cause I know they will.

Cheri

On 5/1/2014 2:40 PM, notbob wrote:
> On 2014-05-01, Dave Smith > wrote:
>
>> True, but you never know.
>
> Yep. The hospital, the nursing home where my mom is, and my doctor,
> all don't have a recognizable caller IDs, so these days I gotta pick
> up almost all incoming calls during normal business hours. Another
> ****er. :|

Have you thought about asking them to fix their caller ID? You'd think
they'd want people to know when they're calling them.

On 5/1/2014 3:23 PM, James Silverton wrote:
> On 5/1/2014 3:53 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>> On 5/1/2014 1:13 PM, James Silverton wrote:
>>> I suppose this is OT but they seem to call when I'm cooking or eating
>>> and I wonder if telephone solicitors etc. realize that most people
>>> don't
>>> have old-fashioned phones without displays. As far as I can tell, if a
>>> caller has "Unknown name", "Caller not available", shows the calling
>>> phone number, etc., they are generally people I don't want to talk
>>> to. I
>>> have almost made the decision to ignore any of those unknowns. I don't
>>> think I'll lose much.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Caller ID used to ber great, but now we get a lot of calls from cell
>> phones that show the number and "wireless caller". If I know the
>> number, I pick it up. I do ignore some of the "unknown". If
>> important,
>> they will leave a message.
>>
>> If I see just a state name, it is a robo call, or Card Services I know
>> is junk and ignore.
>
> My son only uses a cell phone (no land line) but his name appears on
> my phone display so it appear that there's nothing stopping the bums
> from identifying themselves.
>

Actually, there's nothing stopping them from *hiding* their
identifying information, which is what is usually going on. Sometimes
they use a generic ID such as Unknown, sometimes they use a false or
misleading name, sometimes they actually masquerade as a legitimate
organization or individual. It's called spoofing, and it's easy to do.

On 01/05/2014 11:45 AM, Dave Smith wrote:
> On 2014-05-01 1:13 PM, James Silverton wrote:
>> I suppose this is OT but they seem to call when I'm cooking or eating
>> and I wonder if telephone solicitors etc. realize that most people don't
>> have old-fashioned phones without displays. As far as I can tell, if a
>> caller has "Unknown name", "Caller not available", shows the calling
>> phone number, etc., they are generally people I don't want to talk to. I
>> have almost made the decision to ignore any of those unknowns. I don't
>> think I'll lose much.
>>
>>
>
>
> I had one this morning that just showed Long Distance Caller. What the
> heck. I was in no hurry. It turned out to be some organization that my
> wife donated to a couple years ago when they said they were raising
> money to digitized the memories of war veterans. There aren't too many
> of those guys left, but they seem to be calling more and more often. I
> congratulated him for being resourceful enough to have called from a
> different number. He seemed a little confused so I explained that I had
> blocked the old one. I told him that my wife had given a one time gift I
> explained r that they are one of the reasons my wife and I no longer
> donate to charities that want personal information because they just
> keep calling for more.
>
> He said he would take us off their list. I am betting they will cal back.

The constant pestering has made me re-evaluate all my charitable giving.
I gave a substantial amount to one charity last July (as I do every
year). In August they sent me a packet of address labels asking for more
money and then in September they sent a calendar asking for $200.
I e-mailed them and told them to take me off the mailing list. As my
sister put it: "I just felt charitied out!"
It doesn't help that the guy in charge of that charity pays himself over
$300k/year.
Graham

On 2014-05-01 4:23 PM, James Silverton wrote:

> My son only uses a cell phone (no land line) but his name appears on my
> phone display so it appear that there's nothing stopping the bums from
> identifying themselves.
>


That may be because his number is in your speed dialing function. My
son's shows up with his name and unique ring.. because the ring is
programmed, but other cell phone numbers do not.

On 5/1/2014 4:35 PM, notbob wrote:
> On 2014-05-01, jmcquown > wrote:
>
>> Call Registry. They're getting trickier all the time. It's no wonder I
>> don't answer the phone most of the time.
>
> My fave phone anecdote is the one about the ol' Southern Colonel. He
> complained bitterly when they installed the newfangled crank phone in
> his ol' plantation home, "Now, when the bell rings, I gotta come!".
>
> nb
>
Shouldn't that be, when the bell rings the maids gotta come? <G>

Jill

On Thu, 01 May 2014 13:13:48 -0400, James Silverton
> wrote:

>I suppose this is OT but they seem to call when I'm cooking or eating
>and I wonder if telephone solicitors etc. realize that most people don't
>have old-fashioned phones without displays. As far as I can tell, if a
>caller has "Unknown name", "Caller not available", shows the calling
>phone number, etc., they are generally people I don't want to talk to. I
>have almost made the decision to ignore any of those unknowns. I don't
>think I'll lose much.

I let it go to voicemail!

Most irritating callers don't even leave a message anyway.

With the advent of CallerID years ago, I quickly extinguished my
Pavlovian developed habituaton to puick up the phone right away. Now I
run to look and see wwho's calling, and if I don't rtecognize the
number/name (I say it in that order because SO many phone#s don't have
a name anymore! :-( ) I just let it go to voicemail!

John Kuthe...

On 2014-05-01 5:38 PM, graham wrote:

>> He said he would take us off their list. I am betting they will cal back.
>
> The constant pestering has made me re-evaluate all my charitable giving.
> I gave a substantial amount to one charity last July (as I do every
> year). In August they sent me a packet of address labels asking for more
> money and then in September they sent a calendar asking for $200.
> I e-mailed them and told them to take me off the mailing list. As my
> sister put it: "I just felt charitied out!"
> It doesn't help that the guy in charge of that charity pays himself over
> $300k/year.
>

There are charities that I want to support and some that, for one reason
or another I will support. However.... it has become apparent that
charity fundraising has become a business, and a business that I do not
wish to support.

I used to give to the Cancer Society. Heck, I used to volunteer to sell
daffodils for them. They sold my info and now I get beg letters from
cancer societies for just about every part of the body, skin, lung,
colon, live, kidney.....

From now on ... it is smaller amounts anonymously.


Another thing to rant about is retail partnership. You go to the cashier
and get your purchases rung through and then they ask you if you want to
donate $2 to the charity they are pushing that week. NO. I don't want
to give money to the charity of the week and I am getting fed up with
cashiers asking me.

On 5/1/2014 5:38 PM, graham wrote:
> On 01/05/2014 11:45 AM, Dave Smith wrote:
>> On 2014-05-01 1:13 PM, James Silverton wrote:
>>> I suppose this is OT but they seem to call when I'm cooking or eating
>>> and I wonder if telephone solicitors etc. realize that most people don't
>>> have old-fashioned phones without displays. As far as I can tell, if a
>>> caller has "Unknown name", "Caller not available", shows the calling
>>> phone number, etc., they are generally people I don't want to talk to. I
>>> have almost made the decision to ignore any of those unknowns. I don't
>>> think I'll lose much.
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> I had one this morning that just showed Long Distance Caller. What the
>> heck. I was in no hurry. It turned out to be some organization that my
>> wife donated to a couple years ago when they said they were raising
>> money to digitized the memories of war veterans. There aren't too many
>> of those guys left, but they seem to be calling more and more often. I
>> congratulated him for being resourceful enough to have called from a
>> different number. He seemed a little confused so I explained that I had
>> blocked the old one. I told him that my wife had given a one time gift I
>> explained r that they are one of the reasons my wife and I no longer
>> donate to charities that want personal information because they just
>> keep calling for more.
>>
>> He said he would take us off their list. I am betting they will cal back.
>
> The constant pestering has made me re-evaluate all my charitable giving.
> I gave a substantial amount to one charity last July (as I do every
> year). In August they sent me a packet of address labels asking for more
> money and then in September they sent a calendar asking for $200.
> I e-mailed them and told them to take me off the mailing list. As my
> sister put it: "I just felt charitied out!"
> It doesn't help that the guy in charge of that charity pays himself over
> $300k/year.
> Graham

In the US there was a food charity known as Angel Food Ministries. You
order and buy boxes of food for $30. Frozen, yes. But that bought a
box of food to feed a family of four including steaks, ground beef,
chicken breasts, frozen vegetables, shelf stable milk. A carton of eggs
with every box. The food was all donated by local food vendors. Great
idea at the time. Until the "clergy" family running the outfit started
paying themselves 6 figure salaries. I don't trust most charities.

Jill

On 01/05/2014 4:33 PM, Dave Smith wrote:
> On 2014-05-01 5:38 PM, graham wrote:
>
>>> He said he would take us off their list. I am betting they will cal
>>> back.
>>
>> The constant pestering has made me re-evaluate all my charitable giving.
>> I gave a substantial amount to one charity last July (as I do every
>> year). In August they sent me a packet of address labels asking for more
>> money and then in September they sent a calendar asking for $200.
>> I e-mailed them and told them to take me off the mailing list. As my
>> sister put it: "I just felt charitied out!"
>> It doesn't help that the guy in charge of that charity pays himself over
>> $300k/year.
>>
>
> There are charities that I want to support and some that, for one reason
> or another I will support. However.... it has become apparent that
> charity fundraising has become a business, and a business that I do not
> wish to support.
>
> I used to give to the Cancer Society. Heck, I used to volunteer to sell
> daffodils for them. They sold my info and now I get beg letters from
> cancer societies for just about every part of the body, skin, lung,
> colon, live, kidney.....
>
> From now on ... it is smaller amounts anonymously.
>
>
> Another thing to rant about is retail partnership. You go to the cashier
> and get your purchases rung through and then they ask you if you want to
> donate $2 to the charity they are pushing that week. NO. I don't want
> to give money to the charity of the week and I am getting fed up with
> cashiers asking me.
>
And today a firefighter was stationed outside the supermarket door
asking for donations to their kids' burn charity.
It just doesn't stop!
Graham

On 2014-05-01 6:39 PM, graham wrote:

>> Another thing to rant about is retail partnership. You go to the cashier
>> and get your purchases rung through and then they ask you if you want to
>> donate $2 to the charity they are pushing that week. NO. I don't want
>> to give money to the charity of the week and I am getting fed up with
>> cashiers asking me.
>>
> And today a firefighter was stationed outside the supermarket door
> asking for donations to their kids' burn charity.
> It just doesn't stop!
>

It could be worse. Around here they set up on the road at
intersections... until someone pointed out that was illegal... thanks to
a law aimed at squeegee kids. The one that gets me is the Salvation
Army setting up beg shops outside the liquor store. They are dead set
against drinking but they try to raise money from the drinkers.

On 5/1/2014 7:13 AM, James Silverton wrote:
> I suppose this is OT but they seem to call when I'm cooking or eating
> and I wonder if telephone solicitors etc. realize that most people don't
> have old-fashioned phones without displays. As far as I can tell, if a
> caller has "Unknown name", "Caller not available", shows the calling
> phone number, etc., they are generally people I don't want to talk to. I
> have almost made the decision to ignore any of those unknowns. I don't
> think I'll lose much.
>
>

I get a lot of calls from out of state. Sometimes when I answer, I get a
hang up. Sometimes, it's the dreaded automated call from Google search
engine optimizers. Sometimes it's people selling stuff. All these
numbers get added to my phone book as "DNA" as in "Do Not Answer." My
guess is that the hang ups are automated calls that are looking for live
numbers. Numbers that get answered get added to a list and sold. These
would be low quality numbers but it's low quality businesses that use
these cheap lists. Hopefully, this mess won't migrate over to text
messaging.

jmcquown wrote:
> On 5/1/2014 1:20 PM, graham wrote:
>> On 01/05/2014 11:13 AM, James Silverton wrote:
>>> I suppose this is OT but they seem to call when I'm cooking or eating
>>> and I wonder if telephone solicitors etc. realize that most people
>>> don't
>>> have old-fashioned phones without displays. As far as I can tell, if a
>>> caller has "Unknown name", "Caller not available", shows the calling
>>> phone number, etc., they are generally people I don't want to talk
>>> to. I
>>> have almost made the decision to ignore any of those unknowns. I don't
>>> think I'll lose much.
>>>
>>>
>> That's my attitude as well and as they ring off when the answering
>> machine kicks in, I'm usually right.
>> Graham
>
> Anyone who knows me knows to talk to the machine. IF I'm home and not
> busy I'll answer. If they don't, tough luck. You don't get to talk
> to me if you won't identify yourself.
>
> Jill
"Get to talk to me"?

"notbob" > wrote in message
...
> On 2014-05-01, Dave Smith > wrote:
>
>> True, but you never know.
>
> Yep. The hospital, the nursing home where my mom is, and my doctor,
> all don't have a recognizable caller IDs, so these days I gotta pick
> up almost all incoming calls during normal business hours. Another
> ****er. :|
>
> nb

Yeah. I too get such calls. So I have to answer them all. At least I
don't normally get a lot of calls.

On Thu, 01 May 2014 16:23:26 -0400, James Silverton
> wrote:



>>
>> Caller ID used to ber great, but now we get a lot of calls from cell
>> phones that show the number and "wireless caller". If I know the
>> number, I pick it up. I do ignore some of the "unknown". If important,
>> they will leave a message.
>>
>> If I see just a state name, it is a robo call, or Card Services I know
>> is junk and ignore.
>
>My son only uses a cell phone (no land line) but his name appears on my
>phone display so it appear that there's nothing stopping the bums from
>identifying themselves.

I've had my cell phone number for many years now and it shows up. My
wife's name does not nor do either of my kids. Neither do many others
I know. Probably because cell numbers change so often.

On Thu, 01 May 2014 22:43:42 -0400, Ed Pawlowski > wrote:

> I've had my cell phone number for many years now and it shows up. My
> wife's name does not nor do either of my kids. Neither do many others
> I know.

I'm new to smart phones, but I can tell you that when I had a dumb
phone, I entered that information into an address book contained
inside the phone. Now that my phone is "smart" (android), it uses
the information I have entered into my gmail account to identify who
is calling. So.... if I don't update the contact information in
gmail, I won't know who it is.

> Probably because cell numbers change so often.

Why is that? I've had a cell phone for xx years (sorry, I'm not anal
retentive and don't keep track). My number was ported when I changed
carriers... which wasn't often.


--

Good Food.
Good Friends.
Good Memories.

On Thursday, May 1, 2014 2:53:53 PM UTC-5, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>
> Caller ID used to ber great, but now we get a lot of calls from cell
> phones that show the number and "wireless caller". If I know the
> number, I pick it up. I do ignore some of the "unknown". If important,
> they will leave a message.
>
>
> If I see just a state name, it is a robo call, or Card Services I know
> is junk and ignore.
>
>
This is why I bought a Pro Caller Block device; it looks quite similar to the old caller id boxes that first were on the market when Caller Id became available. The name and number are displayed on this box and I can choose to block them from further calls or answer the phone. Now peace and quiet reign at my house. If the phone rings once I can check the display and see it is a number I have previously blocked but the dumb-asses keep trying.

On 5/1/2014 11:39 PM, sf wrote:

>
>> Probably because cell numbers change so often.
>
> Why is that? I've had a cell phone for xx years (sorry, I'm not anal
> retentive and don't keep track). My number was ported when I changed
> carriers... which wasn't often.
>
>

Sure, you and I kept the same number for years, but you can buy all
sorts of prepaid phones at the corner store and people let them lapse
and buy another. I don't think they ever get a name attached to them.

The amount of numbers going into service probably makes it prohibitive
to keep up.

On 2014-05-02 10:36 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

> Sure, you and I kept the same number for years, but you can buy all
> sorts of prepaid phones at the corner store and people let them lapse
> and buy another. I don't think they ever get a name attached to them.
>
> The amount of numbers going into service probably makes it prohibitive
> to keep up.


That's probably why they have to keep coming up with new area codes. We
used to have one area code for Toronto, Hamilton, Niagara and further.
Somewhere along the line Toronto got to keep that code and we got a new
one. Now there are at least two other area codes in this area.

At least we now have the option of keeping our numbers here now. It
used to be that if you moved you got a new number. If you changed
carriers you got a new number. Now you can keep it, so long as you are
in the same exchange.

I wish my son would change his (cell) number. He was living in Toronto
for a while and had a Toronto number. Now he is living down here. He has
unlimited long distance on his plan so it makes no difference to him. We
have a long distance plan so it makes no difference if I call him from
home. I have only a limited time emergency use plan on my cell phone so
I have to pay long distance rates to call him in my cell, even though it
could be a local call of he got a local number.

On 5/1/2014 11:42 PM, wrote:
> On Thursday, May 1, 2014 2:53:53 PM UTC-5, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>>
>> Caller ID used to ber great, but now we get a lot of calls from cell
>> phones that show the number and "wireless caller". If I know the
>> number, I pick it up. I do ignore some of the "unknown". If important,
>> they will leave a message.
>>
>>
>> If I see just a state name, it is a robo call, or Card Services I know
>> is junk and ignore.
>>
>>
> This is why I bought a Pro Caller Block device; it looks quite similar to the old caller id boxes that first were on the market when Caller Id became available. The name and number are displayed on this box and I can choose to block them from further calls or answer the phone. Now peace and quiet reign at my house. If the phone rings once I can check the display and see it is a number I have previously blocked but the dumb-asses keep trying.
>
My phones display the number calling on the hand set. They also
announce the caller in some strangely accent English

--
Janet Wilder
Way-the-heck-south Texas
Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.

---
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On Fri, 02 May 2014 10:36:28 -0400, Ed Pawlowski > wrote:

> On 5/1/2014 11:39 PM, sf wrote:
>
> >
> >> Probably because cell numbers change so often.
> >
> > Why is that? I've had a cell phone for xx years (sorry, I'm not anal
> > retentive and don't keep track). My number was ported when I changed
> > carriers... which wasn't often.
> >
> >
>
> Sure, you and I kept the same number for years, but you can buy all
> sorts of prepaid phones at the corner store and people let them lapse
> and buy another. I don't think they ever get a name attached to them.
>
> The amount of numbers going into service probably makes it prohibitive
> to keep up.

Oh, yes - I've heard about those phones. We have no landline or VOIP,
cell phone only. Hubby's is a permanent number that he ported from
Verizon proper to Selectel - $75 / yearly Plan: 2000 cell minutes,
1500 texts, no data (data can be added with a Flex Card). He doesn't
ever text and has no interest in accessing the internet by phone. If
he runs out of minutes, he'll spend another $75 to re-up. Beats my
$30 monthly plan, but I text images and use the interwebs - so I like
my data plan, however small it is. Quickly learning to compress
images *every* time I send. I barely make a dent in my talk & text on
a monthly basis, but the flex card covers my *ss when I go over the
data allotment. I need to review my monthly talk & text usage. Maybe
I'll pull back to the $75 a year plan too. Even if I spent $20 a
month on flex cards, it would still save over $100 a year. That's
enough to pay for a nice dinner for two (+tip) somewhere.


--

Good Food.
Good Friends.
Good Memories.

On Fri, 02 May 2014 10:40:22 -0400, Dave Smith
> wrote:

> I wish my son would change his (cell) number. He was living in Toronto
> for a while and had a Toronto number. Now he is living down here. He has
> unlimited long distance on his plan so it makes no difference to him. We
> have a long distance plan so it makes no difference if I call him from
> home. I have only a limited time emergency use plan on my cell phone so
> I have to pay long distance rates to call him in my cell, even though it
> could be a local call of he got a local number.

I hear ya. DD and SIL still have 805 cell phone numbers even though
they've been in the SFBA for 10+ years. They're fine with it. They
are programmed into all their friends/families phones and it would be
a hassle for everyone if they changed their area code. I haven't even
bothered to memorize their numbers, my phone just auto dials them for
me.


--

Good Food.
Good Friends.
Good Memories.

On 2014-05-02 11:29 AM, Janet Wilder wrote:

>>
> My phones display the number calling on the hand set. They also
> announce the caller in some strangely accent English
>



I had to disable that feature on my phone because the Chinglish was too
funny, especially when my wife's friend used to call. Their phone is in
his name and his name his last name is a first name so there was a
heavily accented inflection that treated both as first names. We used to
laugh whenever we heard it. Even now we look at it and imitate the audio
call ID.