I’m starting something new on the blog. Since Fridays for me are all about tying up all the odds and ends of my week and making sure I got everything done, I came up with the idea of doing an odds and ends piece every Friday. Basically it will be just little bits of absurdities, maybe a touch of humor here and there, and anything else I want to throw in there.
First off, I want to say how irritating voice mail can be. Do you remember when we were able to dial a number and talk to a real person? Some mail systems are so bad you can get in an endless loop and never connect to a real person.
Yesterday, I had three calls to make to follow up on some business and I wanted to get that out of the way first thing. Voice mail all around. So I left messages. No call backs by late afternoon, which means I did not get to mark those items off my to-do list.
It also really irritates me when people do not respond to an e-mail request. Part of my day job involves asking businesses if they want to advertise with WinnsboroToday.com. and since we are Online, much of that contacting is done via e-mail. I’ve had people contact me about rates and we may trade a few e-mails back and forth discussing options, then they don’t respond to my final e-mail asking if they want the ad. If they decided not to, you would think they would at least have the courtesy to say so.
On a more serious note, I read yesterday about North Korea issuing a warning to the U.S. and South Korea to cancel the planned joint war-games or face serious retaliation. Didn’t we already fight that war?
That’s all for today. I’ve got a few other odds and ends to catch up on, like those three phone calls from yesterday.
I love being able to mark things off my to-do list. I keep it by my computer and add things to it (or I for sure will forget) and mark them off. Marking off is much more fun than adding.
I’m with you, Helen. Something so satisfying about marking the items off. You will not believe it, but I still cannot make contact with the people I tried to call yesterday. Jeesh!!
I seriously dislike automated answering systems. FYI, I’ve had pretty good luck, though not fool-proof, by hitting zero every time I get a new option. I usually end up speaking to a live human being who then will kindly connect me to another live person who can help me mark that thing off my list. Also, if given the option of claiming to have a rotary phone, take that — it always connects you to a person.
Another irritation is having to listen to a sales pitch before I can do my business. This happens every single time I call my bank. I’m always trying to figure out how to get LESS of the bank not buy more of them.
Guess I shouldn’t unload on your Odds and Ends post. It must be time for another of my “Tirade Tuesdays.” LOL
Beth, that can work on a lot of voice-mail systems, but there are a few that don’t ever connect. You are left with leaving a message that may or may not be returned. In most cases, NOT. I still have not resolved those three issues that I was trying to resolve Thursday morning. And I wonder why my ulcer is kicking up. LOL
I must say I do prefer being able to leave a voicemail message rather than the call just ringing out and having to call back again and again. At least having left the message the ball is in the other person’s court and I can tick half the job off the list.
Elle
HearWriteNow & Blood-Red Pencil
Elle, you are right about the convenience of being able to leave a message. The problem is when folks don’t call back. That seems to be happening more and more lately.
For an old timer like me it’s text messages that drive me crazy. Someone leaves a voice message and if I do not call back right away (hey-I’m busy looking over a thirty foot putt) I get multiple text messages. Remember when we all had one black phone in the living room? Now that was the good ol’ days.
-N-
I think I’m going to like this new feature to your blog. Good job!
來囉~先問聲安............................................................
I’m not a huge fan of voice mail, either. I tend to ramble on and on. 🙂
It’s frustrating not to get a response from emails or voice mails…
Glad you liked this new feature, Carol. I will try to live up to your expectations. LOL
Elizabeth, I am so glad that I am not the only one who doesn’t handle voice-mail well. There are times I have had to call back to leave my number because the time was up before I got that important bit of information into my message.