The bells, the bells!

I didnt have a phone until I was 13. I grew up using (and abusing...) the phone box at the end of our road.

So when my parents did finally decide they could afford a phone it was a bit of a novelty. But finding friends who also had phones was a bit hard. Oh how times have changed!

When I worked as a trainee chartered accountant we had to make lots of calls to Bank Managers and MDs. It was easy at first - my confidence was boundless. But after several months of abuse from these High Up people my confidence was knocked forever. Since then I have had a 'phone phobia'. I would rather pass up the chance to be given £1 million than make a phone call on a Bad Phone Day.

I am usually Ok answering the phone though. Except for the past few months my home phone has rung non stop.
I put polite messages on my website to remind people not to call at unsocial hours (ie my unsocial hours - it may be 5pm in Brazil but it doesnt mean it's 5pm here!) or when I am doing school runs. But the phone still rings and rings and rings

I cant answer it when I am not here. I cant answer it when I am doing the many school runs. I cant answer it when I am in the loft, in the bath, down the garden and so on

But still it rings and rings. Some people (telesales) never give up.

I pull the power most days as otherwise I'd get nothing done. The phone today has rung every 10 minutes for 3 hours before I had to do this or I would not have got my orders packed.

It took me 4 hours non stop to pack today's parcels. If I answer the phone every 10 minutes I'd still be at it.

I yearn for the days when phones were rarely used. And that reminds me - where on earth is my mobile? And how do I use the thing?