Jerzei Collie's journal

Note to telemarketers: You're the main reason my dad's phone number is unlisted (and my listing is only my number without my address.) My dad and I both get calls once in a while from someone claiming to want to buy our homes.

I've noticed that sometimes my phone has a different ring pattern. Instead of one regular ring, my phone does a short ring/long ring/short ring pattern. I wonder if that's to indicate a robocaller.

I'm getting my COVID booster Thursday afternoon.

Note to phone scam artists: If you're going to pose as a government agency like the IRS, at least make it sound like you're NOT in a noisy telemarketing room in the Middle East.

I've been feeling more tired this week for some reason.  I usually sleep in on Mondays (and sometimes Tuesdays.) I wound up also sleeping in on Wednesday and Thursday, then finally getting up at a normal time Friday.  I don't know if having less soda/caffeine this week contributed to that, or if my mind's entered vacation mode early.  I leave for Furry Fiesta next Thursday!  I initially thought about renting a car for the weekend, but there are lots of restaurants and stores within walking distance of the hotel.

I've been getting calls from companies like this for years. They hang up when you ask them to stop calling, ask for the company's name or supervisor, or do anything other than give them the personal information they're looking for. An article in the Los Angeles Times has identified the company (one of them, at least) allegedly responsible for these calls:

I called the number for "card member services" ... identified myself as a journalist and asked to speak with someone in charge. I was told that a supervisor would call me right back. No such call ever came.

But before the agent managed to hang up, she identified her company as both Ambrosia Web Design and AWD CAM Services, and said they were based in Arizona. That gave me something to go on.

According to the Arizona Corporation Commission, Ambrosia Web Design is operated by someone named Chris Ambrosia out of a house in Mesa.

A company called CAM Services Direct is also registered to Ambrosia and, according to state records, operates out of the same Mesa house.

Ambrosia, 45, didn't return calls for comment.

Click here for complete article ...or... click here for the Arizona Corporation Commission's information about this company.

Just a friendly note to telemarketers: Making insincere, self-deprecating remarks before you go into your sales pitch isn't cute and doesn't make people want to give. If anything, it annoys us more. It definitely doesn't appear to be genuine when it sounds like you're reading "ha ha ha ha" off of a script. If you're that bad at emoting while reading, maybe you should give up telemarketing and go into making porn films.

Hearing the telemarketers fake laugh reminded me of a comedy routine I saw a few years ago involving a novice door-to-door vacuum salesman. The salesman read from his sales script and laughed briefly at his jokes before emitting a deep sigh. My favorite exchange from that routine:

SALESMAN (reading sales script): What brand of vacuum do you own?
WOMAN: It's a Bissell.
SALESMAN (reading again): Bissell? Hey, I voted for him! HA-HA-Ha-ha-ha...ohhhhhh!

Tonight's C.S. Tweetup took place at the Colorado Mountain Brewery near I-25 and Interquest. Looking over their menu online, I originally planned to order one of their burgers with a Boca (vegetarian) patty. When I got there, the restaurant had provided free cheese quesadillas and kettle chips with salsa, guacamole, hot wing sauce, ranch dressing and bleu cheese dressing. I had limited myself to just 470 calories during the morning and early afternoon. At the meeting, I ate the equivalent of one quesadilla (8 sections) and 3-4 servings of chips plus a few spoons of the salsa, hot sauce and ranch dressing. Using calorie estimates from online sites (and erring on the high side, as usual,) my total intake for the day was about 1,930 calories, including a protein shake an hour ago.

P.S.: I found the answer to a question that bucktowntiger  had asked on Tuesday. He and others were talking about how water in a toilet swirls in one direction in the Northern Hemisphere and the opposite direction in the Southern Hemisphere. We all pondered which direction the water would swirl if the toilet were exactly on the Equator. Many answers were given (I jokingly thought the water would attempt to go in both directions, making a heart-shaped wave in the bowl.) According to an experiment mentioned at this site, the water heads straight down.

Since my desktop computer is located in my bedroom, I sometimes find myself feeling drowsy after using it for a while. I guess my mind equates being in my bedroom with bedtime. I wish I had DirecTV installed in the bedroom as well as the living room. I usually watch TV while I'm on the laptop in the living room.

Early this morning, the weekday morning announcer at KRCC tried to call me while I was asleep to ask if I could fill in for him, but the phone ringing didn't wake me up like it usually does. That's another 3 hours of work I could have used.

The Phoenix police e-mailed me again. This time I was given a phone number to contact if I wanted to file a complaint against AIG Promotions for their constant phone calls. I haven't heard from AIG in about a week, but I'll keep the phone number handy in case the calls start again. When I get a call from a phone number I don't recognize or one marked "Unknown Caller" and they ask for me (without saying who they are first,) I've begun saying "John's not in right now. May I take a message?" They either say they'll call back or they just hang up.

Welcome to Telemarketing/Charity Collecting 101.

How to handle people who can't afford to give:

RIGHT:
CALLER: "Would you be able to donate at the $70 or $50 level?"
PERSON ON OTHER END: "I'm sorry. I lost my job recently so I can't afford to give anything right now."
CALLER: "Okay. Thank you for your time." (end call)

WRONG:
CALLER: "Would you be able to donate at the $70 or $50 level?"
PERSON ON OTHER END: "I'm sorry. I lost my job recently so I can't afford to give anything right now."
CALLER: "Well, (insert guilt trip about the number of children with cancer, police officers, etc. who died last year,) so would you be able to give a lesser amount like $30?" (If necessary, accuse person of not caring about sick kids or law enforcement. If person still refuses, wish death upon him/her then hang up.)

Both examples based upon actual calls I've received.

I can't wait until my laptop gets repaired. I tried to participate in bucktowntiger's uStream tonight, but the amount of memory the stream and the chat room used nearly brought my iMac to a halt. My iMac is one of the early CRT models from around 1994. Even typing a 5-letter response in the chat took about 30-40 seconds to process. I should have just bought an adapter to display the laptop screen on my bedroom TV.

Back home after a dinner of Mexican leftovers at my parents' house. I drove my grandmother downtown to a doctor appointment earlier today, then we both went to Josh & John's for some ice cream and La Baguette Cafe to pick up some bread.

My body was starting to get used to waking at 7 a.m. for my telemarketing job. Even though I didn't get to sleep until about 1:30 a.m., I still kept waking up between 7 and 9 a.m. When I re-apply, I'll request an afternoon shift.

An answer from the NES version of Jeopardy! (courtesy Stupid Game Show Answers, "sgsa" on Twitter)

It was first produced in 1928, and manufacturers blew their wad making it.

In other news, I put three phone numbers on my "Call Blocking" list this morning. They were the Caller ID numbers of telemarketers and phishing scammers who frequently called me.

(BTW, the correct question above is "What is bubble gum?")

• 14:17 Used the 10% off coupon from Cost Plus World Market to buy some Cadbury Crunchie bars, HobNobs and Easter-themed pasta. #
• 18:08 Activated Call Blocking after getting yet another call from someone posing as Verizon Wireless wanting to enter me into a sweepstakes. #
• 23:38 Finished the other half of my dark chocolate/red chili bar. The chili gave it enough of a kick without being overpowering. #

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That "Verizon Wireless" caller called me three times already.  Some guy with an accent claims he's with the company and says my number has been entered into a sweepstakes.  That's as far as he gets before I say "I'm not interested.  Please stop calling me."  I used *57 to report him the last two times.  The number displayed on my Caller ID (878-386-4908) turned out to be a "spoofed" number.  Between this guy, all the "car warranty" sellers, and the folks who simply call and hang up, I average at least three of these calls per day.  As I said last night, Call Blocking was activated for me, so that will cut down on these nuisance calls.