Taking the calls

The downside to having your own business? It's all the phone calls. All day long. From other businesses that want to do business with your business.

Local schools that want you to sponsor the girl's volleyball team. Or buy t-shirts for them. Or tote bags.
Life insurance companies. Phone and internet companies. Packaging reps. Suppliers of all kinds from everywhere on earth.
Banks, credit card reps, merchant service reps.
Label printers. Office equipment. Manufacturing equipment.
A few random folks who want jobs.
People with web sites, or people that want to "optimize" your web site.
Groups that want free samples. Groups that want auction donation items.
Charities galore with special needs or matching funds opportunities.

I'm sure there's more. That was just the past week or two.

How did I get on this big list of "call me" so we can do business?

Before, when I didn't have caller ID, I thought that just getting that little service would make my life so much easier. Heaven.

But I was so wrong. Whenever any of the above call in, the little ID tells me it's "unkown" or "cell phone San Jose" or something equally useless. There is no way to know if it is a customer or a bothersome telemarketer. During business hours (and even after) I still answer every call. And it's a real time-waster.

I've never liked the phone much. Maybe it's a throw-back to when I had to start my working life as a receptionist and secretary. But today I am very much hating it.

Oh, as I was typing this, I got another one. Some guy from "Hollywood Precious Metals" wants me to convert some of my hard-earned savings into buying a solid piece of metal something as a better retirement option. Is he kidding? I'm not sure what is more ridiculous - that I would buy metal junk instead of keep my cash, or that I would even have any kind of savings, heh.