JD_in_FL

I've tried tele-zappers, ignoring calls, and just about everything else. Then, I saw a suggestion somewhere else that suggested some very bad vulgar responses. That's when I decided that something else in the middle might do the job. The telephone call can go like this:

Caller: "I'm trying to reach _______, is this him/her"

Answer: "I'll be anyone you want me to be big boy/little girl"

Caller: " This is __________ trying to collect a debt, are you _______"?

Answer "I will be anyone you want me to be....if I have been bad, will you spank me?"

Caller: "I am trying to reach ________ are you that person?"

Answer: "I like it when you reach....you reach good...what can I reach in return?

So far, I've never had to go further than this before a bill collector hangs up on me! I love it!!!!

Can you think of anything better, not illegal and not vulgar, that works better against unwanted telephone calls?

I was visiting a store with my backpack, as I frequently travel by bicycle. I put my backpack on the bottom of the shopping cart, out of reach, and a woman clerk stopped me at the door saying, "sir, you will have to leave that here while you shop".

This is my travel bag. My checkbook and other important items are in it. Did they ask a woman with a big purse to leave it at the counter?

I brought all these points up, and was told women don't have to leave purses, no matter how large, but back packs have to be left at the counter.

I said "no, they don't, I can leave the store and take my business elsewhere".

Do you think it is descrimination when backpacks are banned but purses aren't? Men keep just as many important things in a backpack as women do a purse.

I recently received a "Tires Plus" ad in the mail advertizing a "4 for" sale. The ad separated different categories of tires, such as "economy", performance", and "touring".

I realize tire prices change based on size of tires, so I called one of the local stores to inquire about price for my particular car.

The employee rudely told me that he had no ideal what ad I was talking about and they have no "4 for" price. Also, he could not tell me which tire was what category. He rudely told me he has tires for my car with a price range, but can't tell me what tire is what. He said, "come in a pick one, that's all I can do for you".

I wrote a letter of Complaint to Tires Plus, but have had no response. I feel that this is probably a franchise and no one cares about the customer, only profit.

So, I have stopped going to Tires Plus for EVERYTHING. Does anyone else have any stories to share about Tires Plus or other chains that misrepresent themselves?

Consider this:

Longtime US residents fight deportation

By GENARO C. ARMAS, Associated Press writer

Sat Nov 17, 4:12 AM ET

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Immigrants Pedro and Salvacion Servano have been model U.S. residents since arriving from the Philippines in the 1980s. Pedro Servano, 54, is a prominent family doctor in an underserved areaof central Pennsylvania. His 51-year-old wife runs a grocery store and bakery. But apparent misstatements they made about their marital status 17 years ago have come back to haunt them, and now they are facing possible deportation back to the Philippines. The couple have been told to report to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office the day after Thanksgiving for the start of deportation proceedings

The Mothers of the two applied for their Visas 2 years before they were married. When they applied for citizenship, they were accused of lying about marital status.

Should we throw a MD out of the US because of a wrong box check on a form?

I am an IT professional with 18 years experience. Most of this, with millitary, DA civ, contract, and consultant positions. I found a permanent position with a company, but not working in my field. Mainly financial analysis, and my boss has thought that allowing me to be more involved in the "DP" department equals when I learned how to put paper in a line printer 18 years ago.

We are talking 18 years experience here....I started with DOS 1.0 with single sided floppy disk, surpassed the mini/mainframe era, and program in 6 advanced languages....I evolved from the programming schema to 2nd/3rd level helpdesk support, system administration, network management, and things that my present employer has no clue about.

Question is, I have never bothered to follow up with any certification courses. I am thinking about some Microsoft server and some Cisco router certifications, but they are so expensive. Is it Worth it to spend thousands at age 47 to get a a few initals after my name?

I have stayed at many KOAs in Florida and a few in Georgia and Tennessee. The ones not in Florida were excellent, for value, service, and attitude. Most of the ones in Florida so far seem to bite big time. I had one in Lake City that was "on a lake" (the lake was mostly dried up and had 8 foot weeds growing everywhere, couldn't see the water), one in St Augustine acted like a Russian boot camp and would only rent the paddle boats between 1 PM and 5 PM, if they felt like unlocking them: On our trip, they said they weren't for rent because they had a tour bus comming in. What? One in Orlando (Lake Wippoorwill) advertized one-room cabins, but they aren't cabins, "they are hard-shell tents", and one KOA in Mims, FL says wood fires are not allowed, not even in the BBQ pits because it is against State Law, when the real reason is so they can charge a $100 deposit plus a daily rental fee for a "portable fireplace". Other KOAs deliver firewood. Has anyone else experienced KOA problems?

Why do vegans and vegetarians ask questions about why they get sick and have health issues when they ignore the rules of an omnivore and remove a portion of their diet that other Earth animals require to survive?

Our diet and daily requirement of various nutritional elements does not necessarily say, "I can eat beans instead of a 4 oz cut of meat"....that's like saying a Pespi provides me the carbs of my bread requirements. Each and every food provides a different balance of fats, vitamins, carbs, amino acids, and other vital nutritients. I'm not saying everyone needs a 16 oz porterhouse (that's 4 servings), I'm stating all foods, in their small and proper proportions, are required for good nutrition. You can give up vegetables, if you wish, and you think you have a good reason to (fast food breakouts of E Coli might be a good reason to give them up), but that doesn't mean it is healthy.

Do you think it is really heathy to completely eliminate a food source from your diet?

I am considering rewiring my house. From the network side, I don't have a problem with the RJ-45 CAT-5e to my network jacks. I've done this for years and have no problems with that.

The problem is, I will also be running CAT-5 to my telephone jacks, and ofcourse, ring and tip use only two wires. I will be using an approved distribution block (IDC) and my incomming telephone line will be on white/blue.

In order to get ring/tip on line 1 of a 4 wire RJ12, which pair should I use on the RJ12 jack?

I am a very amateur "picture taker". I can't use the word "photographer" because that would be well above my abilities. I currently own a very old digital camera. It is slow, no zoom, no focus and doesn't take any other lenses. A photographer friend suggested one of the best entry level cameras for what I want is a Nikon D40. It is a camera under $600 with a good lens and accepts most 35 mm lenses and filters. It also has a good balance of automatic and manual settings.

My problem is I'm just not ready to spend $600 at this time.

I have seen other cameras, such as the Canon 6 MP that is $200 less, but don't have alot of specs on it.

Is it worth $600 for the Nikon, or can I get a better value and features with another digital camera?