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Thursday, March 29, 2018

How much is that bunny in the window? And, why I usually answer the phone

bunny in the kitchen window with clover from the yard

And the window needs cleaning in the corner!

Do you remember these planters that were also an animal figurine? This one was very old and free. You know I love the price. It sits in my kitchen window. It makes the place feel homey to me. I love these little figurine vases. I don't ever remember anything like this sitting on my mother's kitchen window sill. Maybe I saw these in the homes of aunts or grandmothers when I was young. It feels familiar.

Above picture and text were a photo from a spring and published here long ago.  I have since cleaned that dusty window that looks horrible when it was just dust that did not show up as so nasty.

I have been complaining about harassing calls and people remark in the comments that they do not answer those calls. Well, there is a compelling reason why I do answer unknown numbers. 

Too many times to count, those calls are from a doctor's office. I have all my doctors' office numbers in my phone which means I know if one returns a call. WRONG! A nurse calls on a different line in the office and I miss the call because I did not recognize the number and often cannot get another call until the next day which is an annoyance and inconvenience for both parties. These are huge offices with dozens of lines for multiple nurses and multiple doctors.

So, I answer the phone unless I remember the number as just a sales pitch. That does not work either. These people have the ability to use a local prefix to call me which makes me think it is a local call. If I have advertised something for sale or given my number to someone, it all falls back on me when I answer these calls of scammers or salespeople. 

I have filled the reject/block list on my phone and cannot figure out how to get rid of these numbers. I filled this list long ago, and I figure those numbers are no longer used by the scammers. I thought a person at a phone store got rid of these so I could block more. Obviously not. So, I will try again. 

Granted, I only answer about three of these calls each day, but it is still a great pain. I do have reasons I answer the phone. However, I have to listen to the phone ringing about ten times a day when I know it is a person to whom I do not wish to speak. 

So, I do know not to answer the phone most of the time. Just before I started this paragraph, the phone rang, I checked it and recognized it as a number that I don't want. So, I let it ring. I can do this, but too often I cannot take the chance it is a number where I really want to talk to the caller. 

Do you ever miss a call because you ignored it, not knowing it was someone you did want to talk with? 

20 comments:

  1. We answer most calls. But the scammers get very little time.
    I have found telling them to put their speil in writing discourages them. Most hang up even before I do.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. EC,
      That is a good response. I have thought about wearing a whistle and letting them figure out how to get their hearing back...lol. Thanks.

      Delete
  2. I love your bunny on the kitchen windowsill. He makes your kitchen look homey. The same goes for embroidered kitchen towels. I had a friend say once that embroidered towels makes your kitchen look friendly. And she was right.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. tana50,
      Thank you. I love a homey/friendly kitchen. I am not into granite and stainless steel, even if I could afford them...lol Do you mean the whole kitchen towel or the edges of the kitchen towel. I am so rough on kitchen towels I could never use one with embroidery. Mine look nice for a while, there there is a catastrophe.

      Delete
  3. Your bunny planter is adorable. My sister had open heart surgery when she was 4. At the time it was still fairly experimental, especially on a young child. During the 2 1/2 weeks she was in the hospital she received so many plants in similar containers, which she still has, including my favorite, Little Miss Muffet whose planter is the tuffet.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anne,
    I am glad the surgery was successful. These would be great for hospital flowers. I can imagine how cute the Little Miss Muffet planter is. Does she use them around the house, or in one big display? Thanks for the story.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I almost fainted when I saw a photo on your blog post. lol Cute planter! Yes, I don't answer unknown callers either and found out the hard way that nurses call from different numbers than the main doctor's number. An important message was left for me about blood test results and when I tried to return the call to the nurse, it took me forever to get through and then they would only take a message and call me back later. Ugh! Better to answer the unknown call. I tell spammers that my phone is registered with the Do Not Call List and they hang up right away.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lorraine,
      I copied that picture from a post of mine years ago. Okay, I am glad I am not the only one to realize that not answering a doctor call delays everything.

      Delete
  6. 99% of the spam calls we receive are the robo kind. Our favorite is - Hi! this is Amy - and we hang up. "Amy" calls for about 5 different causes from about 10 different lines and they all identify as local calls so we pick up. We, too, have blocked calls and while there are so many we still get on average 5 calls a day.

    I agree about important calls, especially from Dr. offices. Some times it's ID'd as the office, sometimes someone's name so it's not the office number. We pick up and hang up if it's not a call we want. Wish there was a better way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bellen,
      Allison from the warranty dept calls me all the time. One time, I listened to a car warranty call that informed me my factory warranty was about to run out. Yes, on my 2000 model!

      Yes, the "just don't answer" idea does not work.

      Delete
    2. Unbelievable - just got a call from Allison about my factory warranty running out!! Did you tell her to call me :) ?

      Delete
  7. I only have my cell phone now and no, I do NOT answer if I don't know who is calling. I figure they can leave me a message if it's important. I just found a pair of 'booties' planter I received when youngest daughter was born in 1987. Yep, in the Goodwill bag it went. I'm just not sentimental about things any more.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nan,
      Doctor's office/nurses do leave a message that they are returning the call. Sooo, I have to call back and leave a message to call which they will do tomorrow. I was just thinking about looking for more of the planters. I put them in various windows. I am sentimental, but would not be sentimental about everything.

      Delete
  8. I do not answer unrecognized numbers. Period. I have both my doctors numbers and my pharmacy as a contact and here at east even if they call back from a different number the first six digits are the same. If I miss a call, I'll call them or they can call me back. All my family, friends a d emergency numbers are contacts and they can send me a text if it's an emergency.

    The bunny is adorable.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Barbara,
      There is no rhyme nor reason to the numbers. Plus, some doctors have multiple lines, not just one alternate number. Some are landlines and some are cell phone numbers, all in the same office. Like I said, calling back a doctor can delay the information because I then have to call back, leave a message and wait until the next day for a reply.

      Thanks. I love the cute face.

      Delete
  9. i often ignore the phone because I mostly get calls from people selling things or asking for donations but I do miss calls I should take. I only feel a little bit bad about that

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. kylie,
      I often wish I could screen calls and pick up the phone only on calls I wanted to get.

      Delete
  10. The chances of someone calling my house on the land line - someone I actually want to hear from - is so dismally low it is not worth the effort to get up to answer. So I always screen and sure enough 99% of the time it is hang ups from solicitors.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. urspo,
      It seems that is the case with most people, unfortunately.

      Delete

Okay, hoping the annoyances have gone away.