h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have a free-standing microphone and speakers

I had that setup with my old PC, though I don't recall any voice chat programs being available back then. For phone calls, I need my cordless phone so that I can get up and move around as needed without putting the phone down. With speakers, I suppose I could do that, but it'd be so much like speakerphone, which I hate.

Might still check out what the cable company has to offer, though. Since I'd get to keep my existing number and all that.

Phonecalls:

*Probably* sales centre autodiallers. These fiendish devices dial scores of numbers at once. When somebody answers, that *may* be but through to a salesperson, provided there is a free salesperson to deal with it. Otherwise. you get cut off. This sounds plausible: they're trying to catch you at peak times. Stalkers, on the other hand, operate at peak early morning drinking times.

(Although my Canadian stalker kept morning hours).

They are horrible, against all sorts of industry codes of practice, etc. etc...but try not let them bug you.

Audio dialers hardly ever call at 5:30 in the morning, though. Peak time would, presumably, be during regular daytime hours, evenings, and weekends. Between 10pm and 6am, though? That's just weird. Not that anything would surprise me when it comes to telemarketers.

I've just gotten a somewhat obscene phone call....from one of my professors! He didn't get past the heavy breathing stage, but is obviously drunk...

Why on earth would one of your professors call you to breathe heavily at you?

(Not that I mean that as a commentary on whether or not you're attractive and desirable enough to breathe heavy at, because of course you are)

Did he mean the call to be an obscene one, or was he just too drunk to speak?

Thank goodness for Call ID. The s can call me as much as they want. They'll never find me. If someone wants to spend their hard-earned money hanging up on my answering machine, they can have at it. I'll just start shutting the ringer off when I go to sleep.

Apparently, he called to tell me he loves me, and sing some Neil Young at me

It was quite hilarious, in a pathetic sort of way.

Especially his "subtlety" - he said "I bet Prof. W [my boss] never calls you to tell you what a wonderful woman you are. But that's because he likes to lead from above. I lead from below. From the hips."

I love it when people let their freak flags fly. But it's not so cool (sometimes) when you get a crank phone call.

Oh, this is the reason he's been suspended, calling his female students when he's drunk. And he's drunk a lot - he's been through rehab four times...

*sigh*

Professor Weeto never called me while I was a student. And I was a member of his fan group on Facebook...