Talk about a wrong number

As longtime registered Democrats, the spouse and I were greatly surprised, and amused, to start receiving calls during the last presidential election from various Republican candidates, the Republican party, and Mitt Romney. 

I actually picked up the phone a few times, to tell them to stop and put us on the "do not call" list, but most of the calls were robo-calls. 

If that wasn't bad enough, now we have the Tea Party calling us. (Thank Cablevision for Caller ID.)

WTF?

Which made us wonder, Do these people not do their research? And if they did, are they desperate or delusional? And if the latter, do they really think that calling us during dinner or at bedtime is going to endear us to the cause?

For that matter, do any of these politicians, pollsters, survey companies, telemarketers, and nonprofits really think, especially in the age of Caller ID, that people are actually going to pick up the phone, during dinner or when they are putting kids to bed -- and give them money? (I feel a bit bad for the nonprofits, but there are other, better, less in-your-face ways of reaching people, like email.)

Thoughts?

I refuse to be a slave to my mobile phone

[Alternate title: And one ring tone to rule them all!]

The spouse and I have had a running battle for weeks now, maybe months, regarding my mobile phone.

I am, I believe, one of the few remaining people on the planet who refuses to be bound 24/7 to my precious mobile device -- keeping my phone off most of the time and using it primarily to communicate (i.e., text) with my teenage daughter when she is not home (i.e., when she needs a ride) and, okay, check my email when I am working on a project and will be out of my home office for more than an hour or so.

The spouse, on the other hand, wants me to keep my smart phone on and on or near my person 24/7 -- or to have all calls and texts forwarded to my computer (using Google Voice). An idea that make me want to move to a tropical island with limited cell phone reception (albeit one with Internet access).

But I refuse to be a slave to my mobile phone!

While I see the utility of  mobile phones and agree they are a boon to those whose job or lifestyle has them rarely in one place or the same place for long (e.g., traveling salespeople, mothers of children who do after-school activities), they have become an addiction -- and an unhealthy one at that.



I don't know what it is Apple and Samsung are putting in their devices, but clearly silicon is the new crack. Just try to find someone with a mobile phone who doesn't touch, talk to, or just stare at it every 15 minutes -- less! -- or get twitchy when they haven't touched their precious device in a while. (Yesss, thanks to RIM, Apple, and Samsung, we are all Gollum now.)

The irony, while mobile phones allow us to roam without being tethered to an office or single location (just watch out for those nasty roaming fees!), they have instead tethered us to them. But I refuse to bow down to my silicon overlord (she wrote while typing furiously on her laptop computer)! So the next time you call or text me on my mobile, and I don't answer, you know why.