Day 3892

Every once in a while I get so frustrated with telemarketers that I'm tempted to discontinue my landline service entirely. Very few legitimate callers use the landline anymore, but telemarketers and scammers seem to love it. I must get twenty telemarketing calls a day. I never answer these calls, but they are still very irritating. I signed up for Nomorobo a long time ago and thought it would take care of the problem. You can always tell when a telemarketer has been detected by Nomorobo because the phone only rings once.

Telemarketers seem to be getting smarter though because more and more of them have discovered ways to bypass this blocking service. They spoof your local exchange, so calls appear to be coming from a neighbor. Some telemarketers just use their real names because they know you won't pick up the phone when it says "Invalid Number" on the Caller ID. The older you get, the more you feel like you are under siege by these people. There must still be people who answer their phone or there wouldn't be so many telemarketers. My Dad was a sitting duck for these people. He knew nothing about technology and always picked up his phone.

I have the option of designating up to twenty numbers as "safe" on my landline and blocking everything else. What numbers do you choose though. About the only people who still use the landline are doctors and suppliers who never bothered to update their old office database. Doctors and vets never call you using their main office number though. Sometimes they use their cell phone. Other times they use an extension in a lab or exam room. I still might give this a try though. Anyone who really needs to reach me just sends me a text anyway.

We got another early start this morning. When we walk in the dark, I realize how bad light pollution is in Dallas. You can see bright stars like Sirius and Procyon, but the only constellation that is clearly visible in the morning sky is Orion. Orion is easily the brightest constellation in the sky, which is why it is the only one most people can identify. The sky looks so different in Fort Davis. There's nothing like a velvet black sky dotted with thousands of stars that have been bisected by the Milky Way. Dark skies are peaceful and incredibly beautiful. I can't say the same about city lights.

It was another slow day. I looked up the number of a company that can repair my large printer, but I didn't bother to call. Is the printer even worth fixing? I've already fixed a lot of electronic gear that I've never used when it came back from the repair shop. Maybe I'll get the urge to make large Giclée prints again, but I doubt it.

I'm discovering that it's easy to pay bills online, but much harder to keep track of things in Quickbooks Pro now. I have to manually recreate all the transactions I have already done online. That's what I did this afternoon. My accountant says Quickbooks is obsolete and that I should switch to a modern cloud-based accounting program. Maybe he's right.

The week's trash has been taken to the curb and I'm ready to start a new week. Maybe your week doesn't start on Friday, but it works for me.

Blackjack is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day