I *HATE* political spam.

[damont]

16, count them, **SIXTEEN**, calls to the house phone today. Every single one of them prerecorded political spam.

Well, I'm extrapolating that the 10 dial tones left on the answering machine were also prerecorded political spam. I'll bet they were. Anyone want to take that bet? What, no takers?

I am *SO* tempted to just pull the plug on the house phone until Election Day.

I will also note that I have had to edit this post, updating the numbers therein, **TWICE** while in the process of composing it.

Comments

[nazrynn.livejournal.com]

It could be worse. Did you catch the note I left in my LJ this morning about the spam fax?

[luscious-purple.livejournal.com]

I've been getting prerecorded spam phone calls for my MUNICIPAL election in Maryland. No one is safe!

[nostasia.livejournal.com]

I'm not taking that bet ... that's a Jaelle bet! I hate pre-recorded calls, period. We get 'em here at my work, too.

[dr-zrfq.livejournal.com]

Why yes, yes I did. Annoying as @#$^%&!, isn't it...

Very much annoying.

[nazrynn.livejournal.com]

Especially when the log does not reveal the originating fax number.

A good solution for a-holes like that is to take 2 pieces of paper, taped together to form a loop, and mark up both sheets with as much black as possible.

I've never done this, but for these guys.... I would have made that exception.

(If only we could send them a bill each for the ink they waste on office faxes... and take them to small claims court...all one bajillion of us that were spammed)

[deboraaurifex.livejournal.com]

Yup -- I screen calls to my home phone hard-core. I rarely answer it. For anything where I actually want someone to reach me I use my cell phone, and I screen even that to some extent. If you show no caller ID, you're getting voice mail. End of story.

[stringlady.livejournal.com]

Um. We just had city primaries - and a run off. I've never seen so much calling in my life... and flyers, and door to door...

Not just pre-recorded stuff, either - A surprising number of Actual People. Who all want to know if they can count on our support. In the exact same words, every time.

One exception - a caller for Cy Vance Jr (Yes, the junior of That Cy Vance...) gave his pitch, then carefully listed all candidates for the office, and asked if I knew yet who I might vote for. I was almost ready to vote for him then and there on reasonableness alone! (He won - he's going to be our DA.)

And this was one of the most poorly attended elections in NYC history. I think they wore us all out!

(Our caller ID isn't working right, and his 80ish parents get upset if we don't pick up and they think we should be home. So... no screening right now.)

[lady-guenievre.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad I only have a cell.

[laurensa.livejournal.com]

We screen every call that comes into the house. If we don't know the name, or it comes up private or unknown, the answering machine gets it.

[dr-zrfq.livejournal.com]

Alas, screening does not stop the phone from ringing off the bloody hook. Almost **THIRTY** calls now today.

Re: Very much annoying.

[cellio]

A good solution for a-holes like that is to take 2 pieces of paper, taped together to form a loop, and mark up both sheets with as much black as possible.

I'm reminded of the favorite response I heard to Cantor and Siegel, the "green card lawyers" who were responsible for the first commercial spam on Usenet. They had published a fax number for people to respond to; perhaps they knew their email would become unreliable. But they didn't think that through. One poster (wish I could remember who) announced "they seem unfamiliar with the rules of Usenet, so I sent them a copy of Emily Postnews. And just in case they couldn't read it, I sent them a copy of X-Windows. Twice."

I don't know what the page count was on a print-out of the X-Windoes binaries at the time, but it must have been impressive. :-)

[laurensa.livejournal.com]

My sympathies. I hate the bloody phone.

[devreux.livejournal.com]

This.

I wonder, dr_zrfq, do you really need your land line for anything anymore? Honestly?

[stefsoap.livejournal.com]

Sweetie...get rid of your house phone...much less annoying and everyone can still reach you.

[dragonazure.livejournal.com]

Send a bill for your wasted time to each candidate who has spammed you. How convenient that the FCC rules regarding unsolicited telephone calls does not apply to political campaigning....