Here's a tip for all of you out there with cell phones. I wish I had thought of this sooner, but even I, the Mad Genius Pharmacy Vigilante, can overlook things from time to time.
As you all know, in this blog I have blasted the cell phone companies for being behind in providing us the technological tools to solve this problem. Those of you with landlines have numerous options, as there are a myriad of devices that can be used to block telemarketing phone calls. Those of you with Nextel can set your phone to only accept calls from people already in your phone book. But people like me, who choose Verizon as a provider, have limited options.
Besides the usage of air time, the most annoying aspect of getting these calls is the fact that you must jump to get your phone. If you're like me and you keep your phone on at work, nothing is more annoying than being in the next cubicle, hearing your cell phone ring, and finding a mysterious number on the caller ID. For me, 90% of the time that means it's a pharmacy.
Well, my workaround involves tediously adding each phone number to a contact in my Verizon VX8300. The first entry is simply called "Pharm", and I've set it to silently ring. This won't eliminate the annoying call waiting beeps when I'm on the phone, but at least I won't be jumping off the couch and running into my office while I'm watching some enormously important TV show.
In the picture above, you'll see the entry I've created, while in the background the various visitors to this site are a thousand points of light. Or, in my mind, a thousand aggravated people who wonder what figure in business or government will take notice of our problem.
After all, the dinosaurs in Congress passed the Do Not Call list, but as we all know, that only stops a few people. Technology, and the vigilante use of autodialers, is our only hope.
