Leave a message...

I rarely came across answering machines or recordings back home. The only time that I can recall getting a recording was when I called specific businesses. Since I have been in the US however, it seems like all I do on the phone is talk to answering machines.

Initially I used to get frustrated every time I heard a recording or got an answering machine. I dread having to make a call to my bank because I know that I will have to listen to a lengthy recording about various offers before I can get any work done. I have come to accept though that it is a business and therefore a requirement.

Personal recordings on answering machines and on cell phones in my opinion are a different story. It frustrates me to no end when I have to listen to a lengthy recording. So often I have found that the recording I have to suffer through takes more time than the message I leave for the person. I have had the misfortune of needing to call people who go to the extent of telling me where they might be and why they may not be answering the phone and speculating as to when they might be able to return my call. Please, I just want to leave a message and get on with my day!

The worst I have encountered so far are the multilingual messages - ones that seem to go on till the end of time and then repeat in two other languages! Seriously, anyone anywhere knows that a beep means leave a message! Its like the universal language of numbers - everyone gets it!

I love WiFi

This week began my official summer vacation. I decided this year that I wanted to be on my own and went about planning accordingly. My careful planning went awry however, as plans often do and with three days left for me to move off campus, I still didn't have a place to stay. Out of desperation, I turned to Craigslist - reasoning that if people can get murdered due to the site, I was bound to find a place to stay. I was right and, finding a room for a decent rate, I moved in. Seeing as how things ultimately panned out, I didn't expect much from the place and was ready to rough it out. It turns out though that I am comfortable here and the issues aren't something I cannot live with.

One thing not included in this awesome summer package - a connection to the World Wide Web. Asking an international student to stay away from the web however is asking for way too much and access to the web was something I was not willing to do without. So I asked one of the tenants what the others do and he told me that the others use the neighbor's wireless. So here I am, trying to find a place in the living room with a signal strong enough. Finding it brought an overpowering urge to blog about something. It turns out that my quest for "borrowing" the neighbors WiFi connection is something, hence this post.

The point - a prayer for the continued availability of the neighbors WiFi as that is what currently sustains my sanity.