Tag: call

SoCS: phones

I know I’ve written before about my troubled relationship with my cell phone, including in my JC’s Confessions series.

That was a while back and I can’t say that the relationship has gotten any better. I’m still not a fan of people thinking they can call or text me at any time and that I will respond. And by “people” I mean businesses and individuals who aren’t close family/friends.

Unlike most people, I don’t have my phone with me at all times and I turn it off at night. When I’m out and about, I usually have it silenced so that it doesn’t interrupt whatever I’m doing.

For the most part, I try not to give out my cell number. It annoys me that, in situations where I have to use it as a secondary or emergency contact number, places like doctors’ offices will default to using it, even though I’ve said that it is for emergencies only. I sometimes have to remove the number from my profile to get them to stop calling or texting.

I prefer to have people call my landline and leave a message if no one is availabe to answer. Then, I can return calls when I am available and have time.

I just don’t need the dentist office telling me I have an appointment the next day when I’m in the frozen food aisle at the grocery store.

In truth, I don’t use the phone as much as I used to. For decades, I spoke to my mom nearly every day by phone, usually even on days that I would be seeing her in person later on. She passed away in 2019 and my father in 2021. With B working from home and T living with us and E and her family in Europe, I don’t have any regular family phone calls anymore.

When the phone rings these days, it’s most likely to come up as “potential spam” on the caller ID.

The answering machine can handle that…
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “phone.” Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/09/13/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-sept-14-2024/

SoCS: the phone

At this point in my life, I’m not a big fan of the telephone.

It can take a lot of time and energy to convince myself to make the call, especially if I know I’m likely to have to work through endless phone menus or get put on hold multiple times and shuffled between service personnel.

(Yeah, looking at you insurance companies, utilities, etc.)

There were periods in my younger years when the phone was an important lifeline and source of connection – when B used to travel a lot on business, when I was away from my mom.

Even after my parents retired near us, I usually also spoke to them every day by phone, even on days when I also saw them in person.

Those calls were not hard to make. Or receive.

I still use my landline for calls whenever I can and still have an answering machine to pick up if I can’t – or if the caller ID suspects spam, which is most of the time these days. All three of us happened to be out together earlier this week and I went to check the machine for messages when we got home. I realized that since Paco (my father) died over two years ago I seldom get personal messages on my phone.

Actually, it’s longer ago than that because Paco forgot how to make phone calls in his last months.

Somehow, though, I keep checking for a call…
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday/Just Jot It January today is “make the call.” Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/01/26/the-friday-reminder-for-socs-jusjojan-2024-daily-prompt-jan-27th/ 

SoCS: cell phone

Linda very helpfully posts the prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday on Friday so that we have a bit of mulling time – although in-depth planning is against the rules – but, lately, I haven’t been remembering to check on Friday.

Today’s prompt is to write about a word that contains “ph” and the first thing that popped into my head this morning was cell phone, so here goes with straight-up stream of consciousness…

I know I’ve written before about my love/hate – much heavier on the hate than love – relationship with my cell phone. I seldom use it for calls. I prefer people call and leave a message on my landline if I’m out and about. I don’t want to talk to my dentist’s office while I’m out grocery shopping or something. I use my phone mainly for communicating with my family, for example, to text to let them know I’m on my way home.

I almost never use text or calls with businesses unless I have to. It annoys me if I have to use my phone to authenticate all the time. I turn it off at night and am often in a different room than it is during the day.

I seldom even turn on the data. I connect to wifi at home and sometimes when I’m out and about, for example, in a waiting room so I can read mail.

I don’t play games on my phone.

I do sometimes use it for photos but I’m not one of those people who takes photos every day. I’m not one of those people that needs an image to convince myself that something actually happened.

A lot of things that most people do on their phone, I do with my Chromebook. I appreciate a large screen and a keyboard. I also like that it is easy to turn off and leave behind.

So, in our 24/7/365 culture, I am a bit of a throwback. Even though I have a cell phone, you can’t reach me on it anytime, anywhere.

But I will get back to you.

Sooner or later…

poetry scam

It wouldn’t have occurred to me as a possibility until it actually happened, but the publication of my first chapbook Hearts led to a very strange phone call last week.

One evening, the phone rang from a toll-free number that came up without a name attached, asking for me. They started out congratulating me on my recent publication and wanted to know what I was doing for publicity. Most of my efforts have been local, so they started pitching things like national interviews with millions of listeners. I was laughing because the concept seemed totally out of the realm of what one does with a poetry chapbook. They did eventually get around to the cost, $1,000 to $3,000, depending on chosen options, which, of course, was a discount off their regular pricing.

It all sounded very fishy and I would never have said yes, but, while I was explaining why it was unaffordable, given that it would take many hundreds of copies sold to even get back the money paid, they told me they were also a hybrid publisher and that they could publish my book, too, so that I would make more money. I told them in no uncertain terms that I had a five-year contract with Kelsay Books with automatic annual extensions beyond that and that I would never break my legal contract with them.

So, the call ended with me still shaking my head at the absurdity of the whole thing.

The next day, I searched the toll-free number and found that it belonged to a company called Author Reputation Press. Although their mailing address is in Canton, Massachusetts, another site listed their service area as Singapore and nearby areas, which explained the accents of the people who called me. Just a word to the wise, in case any of my writer-friends get publicity or publication calls from them.

Yesterday, though, I did run across a reputable hybrid press, Atmosphere Press. A poet-friend of mine has published with them. In their publishing model, if they accept your book, the author pays the up-front cost of the editorial/design team and publication but then keeps a high percentage of the royalties. It’s not something I want to try now, but I might consider it for my full-length manuscript if I don’t find a home for it over the next couple of years.

Meanwhile, there are more manuscript submissions in my future.

And publicity efforts for Hearts.

At least, I won’t be paying thousands of dollars in a scam, although all the submission fees and such do add up after a while.

More decisions coming soon.

Fingers crossed.

Get Smart(phone)

Hmmm….I seem to be indulging my love of parentheses lately.

Warning: I may move on to ellipses next…

Okay, back to the post…

Over the weekend, we went to our wireless store to shop for T’s first smartphone. Given that she is about to head to Missouri to work at a grasslands field research station, she will need GPS and access to databases and such to help with her fieldwork. She also may need it for internet access from the place where she will be living, which does not have broadband available.

They were having a half-price special on an appropriate phone, which the salesperson referred to as buy-one-get-one-free…

So, the next thing I knew, I was getting my first smartphone, too.

It’s quite a step forward in technology for me, given that I was using a flip-phone that was so old the store didn’t have a connector to copy my contacts onto the smartphone. Fortunately, I didn’t have a ton of contacts, although it was tedious to copy them myself. On the other hand, it was a lot easier to type in the names than to push the number buttons the appropriate amount of times for each letter.

It is handy to have E here, as she has had a smartphone for a while and could help me learn how to use my new phone and how to delete or disable apps that came pre-installed, but that I don’t want to bother with. She also taught me important things, like how to silence the ringer.

This probably sounds funny to people who are used to using smartphones and other devices. I realize they are supposed to be intuitive and easy to figure out, but I am not very good at dealing with symbols and swiping and such. I do better with words and manuals with an index that I can read. Of course, those don’t exist any more…

I also don’t use my cell phone as most people do. My landline is still my primary phone number. Very few people have my cell number. I realize that most people want to be connected at all times, but I don’t want anyone bothering me when I am off doing something else. I don’t want a reminder call on my dentist appointment while I am grocery shopping or visiting my parents.

I also don’t text. That may change with T leaving soon for Missouri. I do use g-chat for messaging, so texting is a natural extension of that.

One thing that will be helpful is downloading the apps for some of the stores that I frequent. Recently, our supermarket decided that it would no longer mail out coupons. Having a smartphone will make it easier to download them to my loyalty card.

Who knows? Maybe I will go wild and start taking photos and streaming videos and texting all the time and playing games and such.

Most likely, not…
*****
Join us for Linda’s Just Jot It January! Find out how here:  https://lindaghill.com/2017/01/23/jusjojan-daily-prompt-jan-24th-elusive/

jjj-2017

 

SoCS: Ggggrrrrrrr

I don’t know if I can bear to make another phone call.

Well, not any phone call, but one to the NYS Health call center.

I have been trying to get an insurance situation resolved for the coming year and have had several loooooong phone calls with them – plus some online chat sessions.

And we still don’t have the situation resolved.

Unfortunately, I’ll have to wait for Monday because I think I need to talk to the IRS.

Doesn’t that sound like fun?

Everything has to be resolved by December 15, so let’s hope they all have their act in gear next week when I plunge back into the fracas.

I knew there was a reason I have been a long-time advocate for single-payer…
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is bear/bare. Join us! Find out how here:  https://lindaghill.com/2016/12/09/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-dec-1016/

 

News from submissions

On Monday, I posted about putting in my first poetry submissions of 2016 and promised that you would be among the first to know if I got an acceptance.

I am pleased to announce that Silver Birch Press has accepted my poem “Crowning Glory” as part of their upcoming “My Mane Memories” series.

Poet-friends, submissions are open through Feb. 29. The call for submissions is here. Unlike many publishers, Silver Birch Press accepts previously published work. Short prose (up to 300 words) is also part of the series.

I will post the link here at Top of JC’s Mind when my poem appears. You’ll also be treated to a new photo featuring my silver mane!