It's STILL tough and not getting better - so how are we coping?

ceridwen

As I said - just "No thank you" and shut the door as soon as you realise who they are will do.

If you want to take a couple of minutes longer then you could try "We're on a recruitment drive at my church at the moment and have been asked to take along a friend this Sunday. Have you been saved by the Blood of the Lamb?" followed (if they havent beaten a hasty retreat yet...) by "You DO know Jesus is coming again soon don't you - we are in the End Times?".

That should do the trick:D

Hippeechiq

JenniO wrote: »

I remember when i was a girl and my dad answered the phone in our house and the person on the other end of the phone asked for someone who did not live with us, my dad told them and i quote 'she's having a 'carp' right now and she's been in there a while, can she call you back?' :eek:

My dad has a twisted sense of humour and yes he is American like me.

:rotfl: He sounds like my Dad

Hardup_Hester wrote: »

As things are still tough hubby & I are going on our cheap hols today, one night in a caravan in a field, showers & toilets in a block on the main site, the caravan contains a light & a kettle. The up side? No light pollution, what's the betting it's cloudy & there will be no star gazing, still watching the rabbits in the field while we drink our morning cuppa is great. Don't tell me we don't know how to live!

Personally, I think that sounds lovely

katholicos

parsonswife8 wrote: »

Any calls that show as International on our phone, we do not answer. We have a list of nuisance numbers next to the phone, which only rings 5 times before going on to voicemail.

We figure that if it is someone who really wants to talk to us, that they would leave a message.

For the rude barstewards who swear at us, if we do answer, I have a police whistle next to the phone. Lets say that their ears may be ringing for awhile and not our telephone.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

We also ignore all international numbers and i also have some that show up as 'krap , krap 2 etc because i stored nuisance numbers and gave them a name. My phone only rings 5 or 6 times and then goes to voicemail.My thinking is that if someone needs to speak to me they will leave a message, invariably they don't. My number is ex directory as well so it is rather annoying to have calls from callers who have not been given my number by myself.

katholicos

Gigervamp wrote: »

Yeah, we lived in Shelton for 18 months when hubby got a job up there.

I live only 2 miles away from Shelton :-)

The asian supermarkets and shops in Stoke are brill!

LannyLee

Hey - hope everyone's well & got better weather than we have today!

Spent the whole morning cleaning out the garage & packing the car for a car boot tmw, hopefully make some extra £ to go towards our CC :j

Spare ribs for dinner, on offer in AS*A (2kgs for £6) 1/2 in the freezer & the rest to be cooked in HM BBQ sauce with jacket pots & corn on the cob

wigglebeena

ceridwen wrote: »

Ummm...<cough> i loathe coldcallers myself...but....errr...I have read that blowing a whistle down the phone at someone can cause permanent hearing problems....so...ummm...I wouldnt do it myself...as I've had a few "words" with coldcallers before now myself...but I understand that they are possibly under a lot of pressure from their employer and it wouldnt sit right with me to risk the health of someone who was just a "cog in the chain".

I think 'tis wise to just put the phone straight down and swear oneself and forget it..

My favoured option is complete silence, while not putting the phone down. Either spooks 'em out or infuriates them.

Gigervamp

katholicos wrote: »

I live only 2 miles away from Shelton :-)

The asian supermarkets and shops in Stoke are brill!

The thing I miss the most though is actually a takeaway! We used to go to Zarka's and I loved the masala fish in naan, a great big good quality fish in a masala batter, shoved in a huge naan with chips and salad. It was gorgeous and I've only ever seen it in Stoke.

parsonswife8

ceridwen wrote: »

Ummm...<cough> i loathe coldcallers myself...but....errr...I have read that blowing a whistle down the phone at someone can cause permanent hearing problems....so...ummm...I wouldnt do it myself...as I've had a few "words" with coldcallers before now myself...but I understand that they are possibly under a lot of pressure from their employer and it wouldnt sit right with me to risk the health of someone who was just a "cog in the chain".

I think 'tis wise to just put the phone straight down and swear oneself and forget it..

I don't have very strong lungs, Ceridwen and it is more wishful thinking on my part, then something I put into practise.

I am just so tired of all the calls and the rudeness, that I tend to daydream a bit.

boultdj

What my Mum use to do when she got cold caller's was to say I'll got get him/her and put the handset next to the phone then go in to the kitchen to make herself a coffee,normaly by the time she'd done that they'd rung off and she put the handset back, her point being *it's costing them money to speak to thin air*

BB1984

Well I've had a rather strange day, not used to being on my own of a weekend!

I'd planned a whole list of things that needed doing, but as always, got few of them done! However, I did go to the gym, mend a bit of broken guttering, sort out our life insurance (been very lax on that one and lets just say I'm glad in more ways than one that neither of us has died before today!!!), bought a Feliway diffuser for my poor stressed cat (HOW much?!?!), walked up to the shops and spent far too much on far too little (treated myself to various bits for a "me" night in ), foraged a tub-full of blackberries from up the road, and spent a couple of hours having a cup of tea at my friend's house (poor dear - she's 9.5 months pregnant and very very uncomfortable - can't be easy running around after a 3-yr old too!).

Hmmm, I suppose, looking back on it, I did get a fair bit done - I should be easier on myself! I have been procrastinating somewhat though to avoid hoovering the house. It's been a shamefully long time since we did it, and I can't put it off any longer...I'll do in in a minute...!

Really pleased about the foraged blackberries. They're from a lane near me that I think serves as access to the back of several houses, but it looks as though it's rarely used as there are so many brambles. Lots more blackberries waiting to ripen, too, so I'll pay another visit next week! I need to sort out my freezer (another job that needs doing later) but I'm pretty sure there are some frozen chopped apples in there, so I can make a lovely crumble, my favourite

I scoured the local charity shops earlier, looking for a salad spinner. It's one of those things that I always thought was quite pointless, until I started growing my own salad, and of course now I want one, I can't find one cheap! I saw one in John Lewis for £20!!!! I'm thinking more along the lines of a fiver (max!), thank you very much.

Right....I suppose that hoovering has got to be done...will stress out the cat a little more, but never mind!

BB