He's home, cell phones, solicitors

I picked up David this afternoon. He is better, but still weak from all the morphine and pain meds. It is nice to have him home. We missed him very much.

I spent a lot of time on the road today and I want to do a survey of how many people have cell phones glued to their ear. Not just anywhere, but at one corner in particular. I watched five or so cars round this corner with phones attached to their heads and not paying one bit of attention to stop at the freaking stop sign!

I was behind a woman who was changing lanes without enough room and just plain not paying any attention to the road. Of course I knew she had a cell phone before I noticed, just because of the way she was driving. David actually said he would like to give her a piece of his mind...Didn't happen.

I think we need to stop this insane cell phone and driving thing. People pay no attention to who's turn it is to go, they cannot slam on the brakes in time for pedestrians, especially in a school zone, where kids dart out from behind parked cars! What will it take for people to put down the damn phone and drive?

I know I have used the phone in the car, with the headset, but still, I need to be concentrating on what can happen and be prepared to react. Not to what is being said to me. I can get the information another time. Nothing critical, if it were, I would pull to the side of the road where it was safe. But it truly is not safe, cuz some asshole will be more involved in their conversation than the car stopped on the side of the road and slam into me. I am convinced that this happens on a daily basis.

Just messing with the radio or navigation system is not even okay anymore. You have to drive defensively against cell phone drivers. It is a very bad trend and I would vote to make it illegal to drive and talk on a cell, especially a hand held. I have seen people holding a phone, smoking a cigarette, and making a turn all at the same time and they probably drove a stick! All with two hands. Unbelievable to me. Is our time so valuable that we must talk while driving? What did we do for the last hundred years without cell phones...Only land lines. At home. No caller ID. No call waiting. How did we do it? We did just fine and all the new tech is great, so, wait til you get home to have that conversation or stay off the roads!

Even in my doctor's office this morning, a woman was talking very loudly to somebody about a problem, and it should not have been discussed in front of me. People use their wait time at a doctor's office for phone calls. Fine, just move it outside! I don't need to hear their personal crap. Same goes for restaurants. How many times have you seen a couple having dinner and each are talking to somebody else, on their phones? Or the all important person who wants all to hear how important they are by taking calls? Oh, so popular! Give me a break!

Speaking of phone calls. I received one last night. It sounded like a real person. This person worked for something call DOV. I have never been tricked by a recorded message before but this one got me for a minute. They asked if I have kids. I said, NO. Thinking they would hang up. Then I was told, OK then, are you tired of all the violence and sex in movies these days? I said, No. Then it said, wouldn't you like to see more family values in movies and as he is saying this I was thinking that there are a lot more family movies these days. Then I thought, this guy is not stopping...I asked, are you a real person???? You are not a real person, you are a machine, and I have to admit a pretty good one at that. Then I hung up. Zoe was laughing at me. She thought it was funny that I was talking back to the machine...It was pretty funny. The message started out by saying it wasn't a solicitation...Bullshit. So, I got the number off caller ID and went to the web site and placed a complaint against the number. I felt better!

It is rare for solicitors to get thru these days. When they do, I know they are reading from a script. I like to ask them a question and it throws them off. Some even restart the whole script from the beginning...The kids have gotten in on this and love to do it too. Sometimes when they ask for me, I tell them that I am the babysitter and Nancy isn't here. They ask what would be a good time to call her back? I tell them, how would I know!