Don't call us, we'll call you

I've been at home since Friday, thanks to the flu epidemic which has gripped my house. First I had it, then Austin came down with it and then it was Ryan's turn. And even though I'm feeling mostly better now, I'm still at home because Ryan's too sick to look after Austin who is too sick to go to the sitters.

So three business days at home. This post isn't to gripe about missing work, because that's life. It's to gripe about something that I forgot about even though I stayed at home for a whole year (and am about to do so again).

Telemarketers.

Telemarketing calls are annoying enough in the evening when you're trying to eat dinner or watch a show -- but they're even more annoying when it's two in the afternoon and you're trying to take a nap. Because that ringing phone, that annoying sell and the time it takes to give the quick 'I'm not interested' line means you're now awake.

Most of the time, it's that long distance ring that fools you. And if you don't get to it fast enough, there isn't even anyone on the other end -- because thanks to autodialers, someone else picked up first. Great, no polite 'piss off ' needed this time, but the interuption will likely come again the next time the autodialer picks your number.

Eventually, you end up with a live person at the other end trying to get you to sign up for more credit cards, add insurance to your bank account, offer their services when you're moving, ask you if you want to buy new windows and doors, guilt you into donating to some charity event that benefits kids or tell you you won a free vacation to Vegas from some contest you never entered and all you have to do to get it is sit through a umpteen-hour session from a condo seller.

Someone once told me that if I get call display, I'll at least know which phone calls I don't want to answer. But call display only shows me who is at the other end of the ringing phone -- it doesn't stop the damn phone from ringing when I'm trying to take a nap, take a bath, do some laundry, shush a baby to sleep or maybe just take two minutes to myself.

Do 'no call' lists actually exist in Canada? And do they work? Because if they do, I'm signing myself up -- and fast.

In the meantime, I'll just keep telling callers to piss off. Well, in the politest of ways of course!

Toilet humour

As a mom who recently bought a potty for her kid in hopes that getting him used to having it around means potty training could be around the corner; I saw this comic the other day and couldn't stop laughing. So, I just had to share.

This strip hit a little close to home, because when we first set the potty up, Austin watched in facination, and then proceeded to pick it up, carry it into the kitchen, sit down and ask for some food! In his mind, it was his own little chair.

Since then, we've managed to have the potty stay in the bathroom, but he's not overly interested in sitting on it. In time I guess -- I just hope I never find him wandering around the house with a potty on his head!