So what if the phone rings????????

This must have happened to many people - and not only in Israel. Mind you, here in the Land flowing with milk and honey - this vile habbit gets carried to extremes.

What am ranting about? People who get a phone call whilst talking to you and have the cheek to answer the phone. OK - if they answer just to say that they are busy and will phone back - fine! But most people not only answer but then go on to have a complete conversation. The fact that there is some one standing there waiting is of no significance. The fact that that someone is me is unforgivable!!

Maybe that person (ME) has other things to do other than to stand around waiting for you to finish your conversation - but what do you care?

The fact that it is extremly inpolite disrespectful and offensive to the other person (ME) - not important!

Of course, the other really annoying thing is my reaction. Like a true Englishman, I say nothing, sit there and fume silently. One day, one day, I'll just get up and say to the offending party that I don't care to be insulted and just go away!!!!!!

The worst is at the bank. To see someone at my bank means getting to the branch at 05.00 in the morning to be first in line when the doors open. Not that it help[s because you still have to waut 3 hours until you get to see someone. Then, just as you sit down and start to explain why you'r there - the phone rings and the bank official answers and proceeds to have a long conversation with the caller about stocks and shares, the state of hios account and how many kids he has. Banks make a HUGE amount of mopney from their customers, INCLUDING ME. Why they can't take some of their huge profits to employ someone to answer the telephone is beyond my comprehension!!!!!! If they really are hard up for cash, maybe just tell their employees to not answer the phone, maybe have specific times for phone callers only.

In any event - to all those who treat me with disrespect and answer their phone when I'm talking to them - Bugger off the lot of you!

It's that mobile again

I know - I've already raged once about the mobile phone. But ther's more. This time it's those dammed recorded voice or text messages that are sent out by the thousands to get me to buy something, to announce a great new offer, to tell me what I have "won" or what my local politition is doing for me - apart from wasting my money on messages that is.

Not a day goes by without there being at least 2-4 voice or text messages sent to my mobile by some organisation or person who I have never heard of, never been in contact with and don't want to know them. I have no idea where they got my number - it wasn't from me, and I have no idea who gave them permission to bombard me with time wasting usless pleas and/or information.

The really annoying thing is that there in no one I can shout at, to vent my justifiable rage about having my privacy invaded and my time wasted - not to mention the increased risk of brain tumors from the extra usage of the mobile. When the phone beeps and announces that I have a new message, I always look to see what it is. I have to, I live in an area of political and military instability - there are often text messages warning of security problems or concerns that can effect me and my family. So, the phone beeps, I open and look, realise that it just more junk mail and close the device. Later, I have to waste more time, go into the bowels of the mobile to erase the unwanted garbage. All this takes time, my time, valuable time which could be better spent scratching under my armpits or working in the garden.

So' please, don't send me automated text or voice mail on my mobile - I JUST MIGHT GET VIOLENT!!!!!

Nokia, Motorola et al.....why why why?

Here it comes, the daily dose of venom. Today, its aimed at the cell phone - or rather, at those users of this pernicious device who, whilst themselves being hard of hearing, seem to think that the rest of the world also can't hear a thing - thus the need to shout when talking on their mobile phone. Or maybe, they think that what they have to say is of world shattering significance and the whole world has to share in the revelation?

To be honest, I don't like the mobile phone. Sure it's great in an emergency - car breaks down, need to call an ambulance etc. But do I really need to be accesable to the entire world 24 hours a day? I don't think so! I remember with fond nostalgia those days long gone when the only telephone was a landline device - at home, the office or a public booth. In those far off, long gone days of solitude ( it's all relative) when you drove off in your car, went for a walk, got on a bus or a train - you were alone with yourself and fellow travellers. Maybe, just maybe, you struck up a conversation with someone?

Today? No way! The endless shouting of cell phone users, the myriad, annoying ring tones that constantly puncture the air and my eardrums, put an end to any hope of a peacful, private journey.

So, obviously you think - "aha - he dosen't have a cellphone". Wrong - he does! But, I don't have a handsfree unit in the car! When I'm driving it's the only time when I can be alone. I don't reply to every number that is listed as not having been answered - if it's that important, they'll phone back! Sometimes, though I am ashamed to admit it, I don't even reply to messages left on voice mail - assuming I even remember to check! I often forget to recharge the "thing" (Saving energy I call it - my contribution to global awareness). I have even been known to, dare I say it, turn it off. On occasions, when I get one of those autoimated calls from a chain store or worse, a politician - the device has been known to fly accross the room with great force and impact on the wall before falling to the floor - unfortunately, still alive and functioning.

Wait a minute, how did I get here? Lets see, this started out as a diatribe againt people shouting on the mobile phones and ended up as an all out attack on the device itself. Oh well, that's what comes of being a grunpy old man - by the time I get to the end of a sentance, I can't remeber how I started. Have to send myself a reminder on my mobile!