• Did you recently agree to be contacted about something?
• Did you sign up for a drawing of any kind, whether online or through a drop box at a shopping center or movie theater?
• Have you purchased something online in recent weeks or months. If you answered yes, did you read the privacy policy to be sure they did not include verbiage notifying you that your information may be shared with other “trusted partners.”

The list can continue, but hopefully you get the idea. Since the “Do Not Call” laws and lists were established a few years back, many people naively figured this would put all telemarketing out of business and all calls would cease. There were exclusions written into this law that allowed for calls to be made under certain circumstances.

Exemptions

First, political and non-profit organizations along with survey groups were all exempt. Personally I find these some of the most annoying of the bunch, but there you have it; they can call you. Second, if you have conducted business with a group in which you provided your phone number, they have a designated period of time in which they can legally contact you, even for advertising purposes. Third, and this is the kicker, if you have in the course of your transaction provided consent to be contacted by an organization or to share your information with other companies to be contacted then they may do so. This is where you often get caught.

Online transactions are the most notorious for including consent, either by checking a box or by a statement saying you agree to the terms and conditions of this offer/site by completing this transaction. This is a legally binding contract, so if you want to avoid further contact, read carefully before completing that transaction. This is part of how they stay in business, continuing to offer you additional products and services. Realize if you consent to be called, getting a call is not inherently an evil act on the company’s part; they are simply acting in the hopes that you really are interesting in their services as you indicated by your previous actions.

What You Can Do About It

If you are receiving calls and simply tired of it, whether it is your “fault” or not, there are steps you can take to get rid of those calls. It may take a little time and effort for a few months, but it will work. I have done it and seen the results.

First, get on the federally managed Do Not Call List (donotcall.gov). This is a simple step you complete online, with a valid email address required to validate you are not simply entering a bunch of phone numbers. There is a phone number to call to get on the list as well, but if you are reading this you obviously have the capacity to be online. If you haven’t done this step yet, then you simply are not serious about stopping the calls. Once you are on the list you do have to allow one month (31 days) for call centers to receive the updated list and then most calls should cease.

Now, and this really shouldn’t be a huge surprise, but not all call centers operate within the laws. I can hear the virtual guffaws already! Those that are sloppy about sticking to the mandated do not call laws give the rest of the business a bad name, but it catches up to them only if some people are willing to make some noise about it. Then again, refer back to the list above and realize that if annoying calls are a result of your actions, making noise will get you nowhere.

Use an Anti-Telemarketing Script

The folks over at JunkBusters.com have published what is really an effective script if you are willing to take the few moments it takes to run through it. While you frustrated with getting a call it may be difficult to remember to calmly ask these questions, so I recommend you print out a copy to have available by your phone(s).

Every time you get a call you consider junk, just ask the questions in this script. If they answer no, you may be able to sue them. Be sure to put your phone number on the National Do-Not-Call registry by visiting http://donotcall.gov or by calling 1-888-382-1222.

1. “Are you calling to sell something?” (or “is this a telemarketing call?”)
2. “Could you tell me your full name please?”
3. “And a phone number, area code first?”
4. “What’s the name of the organization you’re calling for?”
5. “Does that organization keep a list of numbers it’s been asked not to call?”
6. “I would like my number(s) put on that list. Can you take care of that now?”
7. “And does the company you work for also make telemarketing calls for any other organizations?” (If they answer no, skip the next question.)
8. (If yes) “Can you make sure your company won’t call me for any other organization?”

Visit their site for the full version of the script that includes some follow up questions and comments as well. Though what I have described here should not be considered legal advice, and the same is mentioned at Junk Busters, but they even point out some of their “money questions” that if answered incorrectly and documented can give you grounds to take them to small claims court to be compensated for their illegal actions.

Just Doing Something Makes a Difference

I have found that by simply entering on the do not call list was the most effective action for the bulk of the calls. We still get the occasional outfit that will call us and I am fairly good at remembering to ask to be placed on their do not call list, which most companies will honor. I’ll typically give a company the benefit of the doubt and leave it at that. When I get repeated calls from an outfit, though, I step it up a notch with some of the ideas above.

Really, this is all it takes to get most telemarketing out of your life. I still get the political pollers and occasional survey and non-profit calls, but even those, for the most part, are limited due to my actions above. I am guessing hoping I have made my way to some blacklist that indicates calling my home just isn’t worth the time.

The service is great, and you’d have to be a moron not to call them because a) they are free, and b) the possible fallout of cutting into their lines is just not worth it.

The only part that really bothers me is the paint they use.  I’m not sure if there is some requirement of the grade of paint they use, or if it is a matter of cost or ease of use, but it stays f-o-r-e-v-e-r!  There is temporary paint out there, really.  It exists.  Just like hair dye there are different grades too, some that last until it gets wet and some that will last through a few washings.

Rather than use something that will be gone in a month or so we end up with nice symbols and lines all over our sidewalk, driveway and even landscaped curbing in the yard.  That last one was what really got me.  Was it necessary to paint on my decorative curbing with the bright yellow and orange paint?

It has been awhile since the last time my yard and driveway was painted up, but I thought of it this morning because there is some major utility work still underway in our little town.  One of the streets I travel down was painted up last week for about a mile stretch of asphalt.  I stopped and took a photo of this city condoned urban street graffiti to display what will likely be there for months to come, until the elements finally wear away at it until they are just ghosted reminders of their current bright selves.

I really think this is just a case of using what is easiest for the job at hand.  Just like typical sub-contracted companies, they only care about what their immediate needs and tasks are, let someone else wonder about the clean up and long term ramifications.  I assume their is a reason and explanation for why this is the way it is, but I’ll rant about it nonetheless.

Perhaps they could do a little artistic training for the crew manning the paint stick?  Teach them to do some pleasing artwork with their markings?  How about  mixing the colors a bit and giving us something more appealing than just the one?  More than anything, though, really can we just use some paint that is a bit more temporary?

My hubby and I don’t buy gifts anymore. We don’t do it for Christmas, Birthday’s, Anniversaries, or even Valentines Day.  We have decided as a couple that we won’t tourcher ourselves with these decisions throughout the year.   We have decided to let our kids pick out the gifts we give to each other.  They are more creative than we have ever attempted to be…like when the kids swing off their closet door and end up in a heap with said doors on top of them we look at each other and say “Happy Anniversary”. When we are picking out the new dryer that isn’t covered (inside and out) with red crayon we look at each other and say “Happy Birthday”, when we pick out the dinning room set that miraculously doesn’t have white paint all over the chairs and legs we say “Merry Christmas.” Yep DH and I don’t “Do” gifts, nah, we let the kids pick out our gifts!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Most adults I deal with on a day-to-day basis understand and even have a sense of humor.  I know this may not seem like a novel concept, but it is harder to come by than I would have thought.  Some people just take things too seriously, and jump at the chance to take offense at even the smallest thing they can find.

I see this a lot in online discussions.  Forums, comments on articles, and especially sites like Digg and Slashdot where commenting is a major portion of the community on which they are built tend to drive me crazy.  I used to read through comments purely for entertainment, but the common types that appear bug me too much that I have given up reading anything other than the source article unless I am really intrigued by what others might have to say on the subject.

I have discussed before how the anonymity the ‘net gives people tends to bring out the worst in so many.  So many people lose all practical inhibitions, meaning the good ones, when it comes to social grace or simple respect for fellow human beings.  They will jump on even the smallest error in a post as an opportunity to belittle the individual and invalidate any point that the individual might have been trying to make.

Here are a few of the common “types” I have observed when perusing such comment threads:

•  Those with a valid point to add to the discussion – a small minority
• The spell checkers – those that flame any user that happens to let a typo through before submitting their comment
• The grammer checkers – just like the spell checkers, but these believe they are the only ones with a mastery of the English language and consider it a shame that apparently no one else does.
• The oppositional ones – they will take the opposite point of view on every discussion
• The rule enforcers – those that report anyone they don’t like to the moderator for apparent rules violations.
• The butt kissers – those that will gush with appreciation and compliments for the site administrators and moderators whenever an official announcement is posted.
• The loyalists – the ones that want to be recognized for their long standing loyalty and obvious prowess because they “have been there since the beginning”
• The experts (aka know-it-alls) – whenever long debate ensues, these users jump in with the “official speak” and a list of references backing their position.  Sometimes these types are right, other times they are just annoying.
• The agree-ers – these just cannot see a thread and not participate.  They will post “me too” or “yes” on every thread.
• The I-can’t-search-for-myself types – will ask the same question that has been covered a hundred times before rather than search out the answer from the previous posts.
• The propagandist – No matter what the topic, George Bush is at fault (or other conservative/liberal depending on your preference).  Even if they think they are being funny, they will constantly throw in degrading comments showing their obvious slant.
• The spammer – the idiot that acts like they care with some half-baked post and a huge signature line with all their products/sites they are advertising.

There are oh so many more “types” out there, but that is a good start.  Any other types you would like to add to the list?

I feel fortunate to be doing my small part in this, and I am hoping that some of you may also be interested in participating in the event.  If you have a blog, you are more than welcome to register at www.blogactionday.com no matter how small or large your blog is.  They do prefer established blogs though, not ones started up just for the sake of participating.

If you do not have a blog but would like to participate I would really enjoy seeing some guest posts on What’s Gotta Go or What’s Gotta Stay for that day.  The posts need not be literary masterpieces; they can simply be your thoughts on thing that are good or those that need to be fixed.  The posts can be short or long, whatever your style or the amount you want to say.  I have a few choice topics I plan to cover, but I am more than happy to have anything you might want to contribute.

If you are interested in writing, please contact me by submitting a comment on this post or emailing me at wgg (at) whatsgottago (dot) com.  As always, sorry for the cryptic way of writing the email, but it helps in avoiding spam.

Please keep in mind that I am more than happy to receive your articles/posts prior to the 15th; I can hold on to them and post it on that day.  I look forward to hopefully hearing from some guest writers!

It’s a tough balance between watering enough to keep my yard from dying and watering too much, which creates a heaven for ’shrooms.  What’s worse is no matter how hard I work to pluck those little buggers out, if my neighbor isn’t quite as diligent, they are sure to come back again.

Last night we had some (much needed) rain which seemed to be the trigger for some dormant mushrooms to raise their ugly heads.  This morning the backyard was speckled with white domes, which caused me a minor bout of anger leading to quick depression.  I hate pulling the things, but that is really your only option.

‘Shrooms are fiesty, resilient little things for which we have no offense other than to bend over and pull them – hopefully before they have sent out their little spores to create thousands just like them.  If you don’t get them early, all you are doing is pulling out the stump for cosmetic purposes.  There is no nice little poison you can throw down to kill them and no special treatment to prevent them.  Mushrooms rule the yard whenever they darn well feel like it.

I know, I know, mushrooms do not feel and they are not calculating; but it sure feels like it sometimes.  I’ll go weeks without one showing itself, and I feel like I have licked the problem; then, bam, just like that they are back with a vengeance.  It may be due to that lack of diligence from my neighbor I mentioned; but whatever the reason, I feel like I am losing the battle.

All I know is I can’t give up.  If I just let them grow what I see now will only be ten fold in a matter of weeks.  So, I plug ahead each morning yanking out each one in hopes of making headway.  At least my kids are not tossing them back for a mid-morning snack like one did several years ago.  He learned via ipecac that was not something he wanted to repeat.  But that’s a story for another day.

My husband is a hoarder I fully believe he was a squirrel in a prior life…he throws nothing away but stashes  it away someplace until he deems it useful again (which BTW NEVER happens).  He has kept every curling iron, waffle iron, blow dryer, CD player, iron and power tool that has ever broken in our house hoarded away like some pirate treasure in our basement and garage. “Never know when I could use a part.”, he has told me on occasion. Every major appliance or electronic item he has kept the box for…in case we move as better to pack it in the original carton (we have lived in the same house for 13 years).  Don’t get me wrong…I love and adore my hubby…he is a good man, great dad and super husband. BUT I am up to my wifely behind in his pile of nuts!

And here comes the real rant…the final straw or should I say NUT that broke the camel’s back. My husband I do believe is in full swing of his mid-life male “mental”pause crisis…which started a few years back and hit the height (so I thought) with his volunteering to go to Afghanistan two years ago.  After he came back I thought it was all behind us.  Before I get to far ahead of myself let me go back to the beginning and give some details…back in the late 80’s we bought a little red sports car…a Mazda RX7. Cute, fast and fun…we were young and had no kids…it suited us at the time. I even think it was my idea. Ok…I admit that. We took it with us when we moved to Germany and had a blast hitting 120mph on the autobahn.  But like all good things of youth they come to an end…we grew up and came home with a baby and the little red sports car with a burnt out engine. We bought a van and garaged the RX7 (a baby seat wouldn’t fit anyhow). And I thought he’d tinker for a few months and sell it for parts…wrong…13 years later it is still in my garage. The engine is in the back hatch waiting for my husband to “rebuild” it. I gave him a deadline that he needed to put time into it by his 45 birthday…he’s now 50 and it still sits. He refuses to discuss it or listen to my pleading to get rid of it. 

Ok, any men still with me…poor souls…now tell me this…me being a woman…if I had a project ah…say sewing a quilt for example that I started over 13 years ago and it was still laying all over the dining room table…making it unusable for holiday meals…company dinners…keeping YOU DRY WHEN UNLOADING GROCERIES (ok that is a garage issue) would you…speaking to any of the brave men….think that a bit inconsiderate of me? Wouldn’t you expect me to finish up and clean it up say before the END OF TIME????

Yes, I “get it” the little red sports car/manhood thing…feeling young and all that. But we purchased a house with a garage for a reason and I do not remember it being for his RX7 to decay in (did I neglect to mention that all 4 tires are dry rotted and flat?)   I can think of 100 other more important things to spend money on right now or even in the near future other than restoring a car that only two people can ride in. And to be honest it’s so low I’m getting too old to get into it. And before you ask…I rarely spend on myself…I do NOT buy shoes, get my nails done…I am about as low maintenance as they come.

What am I to do? Let him have his little red sports car and his youth? Maybe he’ll tinker after he retires and I can take up a hobby like pottery? Or maybe I’ll have a mid-life moment and hire a young strong man to work on the car…shirtless…with tools…hmmm…maybe he can keep the car.

FedEx had sent the notice via USPS (the post office) rather than their standard door tag.  I have had the tags before when the package must be signed for and no one was available to accept the package.  That is nothing new.  In this case, they needed an address correction and couldn’t figure it out on their own.

What I noticed on the post card address was they had a typo in my address, so the street number was wrong.  So rather than do a little research to find the correct info, they sent a card via USPS to me to with the request to call back and get things fixed.

So after all the knocks we all make on the post office, apparently they are the only ones smart enough to get a letter delivered even when the address is just a bit off.  Next time I have something to gripe about with them, I’ll have to remember this little good thing they did and bite my tongue…just once.

As I was bent over, sweating as I diligently waged my battle against the mass of weeds that infest our flower beds, I thought of the type of weeds I was dealing with.  There are many of course, but they fall into two groups, tap roots and fibrous roots.  I can’t decide which is worse.

Weeds with tap roots are much like an iceberg, what you see above ground may represent as little as 10% of the overall plant.  You pull at the top of the thing and it will just break off to preserve the plant as a whole.  Like a good little trooper, that above ground bit will sacrifice itself for the greater “good.”  I have learned to use a shovel to dig up the ground around a big tap root weed to loosen the dirt, making retrieval much easier and complete, though a little time consuming.

I’d take the tap root variety over fibrous roots any day.  With tap roots they may be a lot of work, but at least I feel like I have a little victory each time I pull out one of those big suckers.  The fibrous roots there is simply no winning.  You can pull and pick all you want, but there is going to be some of that mass network of plant still in there.  I use the shovel to try and pull it up, only to get a mass of dirt that only represents a small portion of the nemesis.  Unless out of sheer dumb luck you happen to catch the sucker before it sends out its minions of roots, you will end up picking at the plant forever unless you resort to some deadly poisons.  Not something you want to do next do that savory fruit tree you just planted though.

If you even dabble in a flower bed some, you know what I am talking about here.  Weeds stink; no two ways about it.  Complaining about it makes me feel a little better, but I know they will be there again to fight another day no matter what I say.  I’ll just keep chipping away at them, and hopefully keep them at bay.

So….he came home, got all the receipts for the parts, but since he did the work himself, was that acceptable to them….the answer was NO.  So, we happen to have a legitimate business that sells Jeep parts and does repair work.  So, he got on the computer, made up an invoice with the business name on it, listed all the parts, charged HIMSELF labor, and printed it out.  They accepted it!!!!  This whole time I’m shaking my head thinking what is up with this place? 

 We live in a state that borders Mexico and since there are so many people without insurance, we have to have proof of auto insurance regularly.  They don’t have a grace period either.  They want their paperwork NOW.  Hubby was there for hours trying to get the issue resolved.  It took most of the day, but it worked, and now the Jeep is drivable, legal, and no longer collecting cobwebs.