Quick Guide to Stopping Telemarketers

I have posted some info before on this in a rant earlier, but I thought maybe I should post a more concise guide to stopping calls from telemarketers.

1. Get on the National DNC
2. Don't ever enter contests to win vacations or cars. (Like those cars they have on malls where you put your info down on a sheet then slip it in the window.)
3. Get an unlisted number.
4. Tell your phone company to never sell your number.
5. When telemarketers call take down info on the call center they are calling from then say "Put me on your Do Not Call list, and by the way I am on the National DNC. Be polite, as if you act extremely angry the caller, who already has a lot of information about you, may exact revenge.
6. After a second call from the same call center ask the caller to speak with a supervisor. When speaking with the supervisor tell them that you are on the national DNC and that you have already told a caller from this call center to put you on the DNC list for that call center. Tell them you want to be removed from all calling lists, including Not Interested lists and Wrong Number Lists. Get that supervisor's name, caller number, and direct number to supervisors at the call center.
7. If you are called a 3rd time repeat step 6 and tell them you have already done all of this and that the next time they call you that you will be reporting them at the very least. Remain polite, or at least don't insult them. This isn't the fault of any worker there, it is the fault of bad computer systems and automatic dialing programs which rarely operate correctly.
8. If the same call center calls you a 4th time go ahead, report them, but only report the names of the supervisors, not the callers that made initial contact. The callers have no control over what happens after they classify your call as a "Do Not Call." Most likely the supervisors you spoke to earlier will no longer be working there, since the turn over rate is extremely high at call centers. If all else fails ask to speak with the owner or president of the call center or ask for his name, as he is the one ultimately responsible for the initial call and for the failures of your number to removed from calling lists after that point.

These small call centers can bring in over 2 million dollars a year and the presidents and managment are the only ones responsible for mismanagement of numbers or for the bad computer systems used. The only way a caller will ever fail to classify the call to you as "Do Not Call" is if you insult the caller or are extremely rude, or they may be new.

A day where I'm not pissed off!

It is a good day...finally got my first full paycheck out of my telemarketing job and realized my wife will be getting paid on the 12th. Finally I can seel myself being able to get out of debt, and stay current on rent. Hell we might even buy a car by the end of the summer. Tomorrow is my day off, and I get to spend most of it with my wife, dog, and turtle. If only I had cable so I could watch Stargate tonight...oh well I can go into the gym in my apartment complex later tonight and watch the repeat. For now I think I will turn on some mind numbing show on TV and fall asleep in my couch..what a nice day.

May 3, 2006

Finally my wife has a job! She has spent the past months playing a computer game called "Fairyland." At least now she can support her addiction to this game, and of course with a little strategy on my part (like not paying the DSL bill) may allow her to phase that damn game out of her life. Of course I can just steal internet from my neighbors' wireless networks, but her game doesn't run that well on my laptop and we don't have a wireless reciever for her computer. I don't really care anymore though since she is making 9 bucks an hour wiping ass at a nursing home...hell at least she is trying now.

I really can't believe this new study that was done, claiming that the majority would rather be unemployed than gain 75 lbs. As of yesterday I had lost a total of 53 lbs since Thanksgiving, and much of that time I was enemployed...and I would have much rather been employed and gaining weight than losing that weight. (we were suriviving on Financial Aid money and a little cash we got from my wife's aunt's estate) Of course Fit magazine did the study, and probably did the study among rich gym goers rather than actually doing a random sampling. Of course among rich gym membership holders aren't too worried about not having a job, because they probably have a savings for such a situation, or they are from a fairly well moneyed family. Yes some people with money tend to piss me off a little, but not all do of course. Mainly those with money who only recieved it from family who never will understand what it is like to try to make some money on their own. You know that people like this would have that point of view "oh of course I would rather be unemployed than fat....being fat is gross...and working sucks! why work when mommy and daddy (or a trust fund) support me?" Then again many of these people can't really think for themselves, but that seems to go for most of the human population, so they would just need to hear one of their fellow rich gym goers say "of course I would rather not work than be fat" and then think "well I should feel that way also!

Speaking of people not being able to think for themselves and of people who irritate the hell out of me, there are Creationists. Now those are some fairly non-thinking persons who follow a similar herd mentality. Worst thing about promoters of Creationism and Inteligent Design is the intellectual dishonesty which they exhibit. I won't say that all Creationists and IDists are dishonest, many are too ignorant in regards to topics addressed in Creationism and ID to even understand why Creationism and ID are not scientific. One member of the Kansas State Board of Education refered to ID and Evolution as merely "opinions" in a response email which they had sent me. What? They want to teach an opinion in a science class? Have they ever taken a biology class? Of course ID is an opinion, but Evolution, Cosmology, planetary formation and stellar formation are not "opinions." Those are models and theories. Sadly people believe a "theory" is a hypothesis without basis, which that is not what a theory is in science. Thanks to www.wikipedia.org here is the definition of theory as it is used in a scientific context.

"In scientific usage, a theory does not mean an unsubstantiated guess or hunch, as it often does in other contexts. A theory is a logically self-consistent model or framework for describing the behavior of a related set of natural or social phenomena. It originates from and/or is supported by experimental evidence (see scientific method). In this sense, a theory is a systematic and formalized expression of all previous observations that is predictive, logical and testable. In principle, scientific theories are always tentative, and subject to corrections or inclusion in a yet wider theory. Commonly, a large number of more specific hypotheses may be logically bound together by just one or two theories. As a general rule for use of the term, theories tend to deal with much broader sets of universals than do hypotheses, which ordinarily deal with much more specific sets of phenomena or specific applications of a theory."

So a theory like Evolution is not just an "opinion" or guess. I love it when IDists and Creationists say things like "Evolution is just a theory" Wow what else do you want out of it? Gravity and electromagnetism are theories also! There are facts associated with all theories and are all based on evidence. Cultural creation myths are in no way more valid scientifically than Evolution, The Big Bang or any model which describes the formation of anything. Hell cultural creation myths have no scientific basis at all! Most supposed scientific evidence supporting such ideas doesn't come from objective scientists. For instance Dr. Russell Humphreys, a creationist and astrophysicist has posed a model, which he holds to, that describes how the universe could be just 6000 years old. Problem is his model was disproven almost immediately as it appears he intentionally forgot to use specific metrics which cannot be left out of any cosmological model. Either that or he is incompotent as an astrophysicist, and is unwilling to accept he made a mistake as any real scientist would be willing to accept. I mean come on Michelson and Morely proved themselves wrong, and admitted to it winning them a Nobel Prize! Still YECs (young earth creationists) are still willing to claim that Humphreys' model explains why we can see objects billions of light years away while the universe is still only 6000 years old. Hell if I really wanted to I could create models which date the universe to any age or date anything to any age...provided you give me the age to start with. Humphreys logic is faulty as he starts with the assumption that the current age of the universe is 6000-10,000 years old and forms a model around that. Science doesn't start with any such non-substantiated assumptions. I mean some models may start with the assumption that certain constants have remained fairly constant throughout the 14 billion years the universe as existed. We know that many constants appear to have changed some extent, but not to the extent that Creationists would claim in regards to change in the speed of light, and change in radioactive decay rates. All the claims by creationists that science starts with the assumption of a an old universe are being dishonest, science makes no such assumption. Isochron dating allows for dating of a body or rock without knowing how old it is. We can assertain from the ratio of parent isotope to daughter isotope to determine age and initial ammount of parent isotope. Since this can be done with mulitple isotopes we can determine if an aging method is correct, or if the body being dated has some anomoly that would cause one aging method to not work, such as it starting with a portion of the daughter isotope within it. Aging can also be determined through measuring further daughter isotopes as the first daughter isotope decays, and through the specific ratio of isotopes we can again determine an age and intial ammount. This can also be used if it appears from the ratio that some of the first daughter isotope existed previous to decay of the parent isotope. Creationists would either say "no no...this isn't true" or that scientists are liars or something like that, rather than saying...oh evidence...ok maybe we should try to get evidence for our own model. I do suppose it is easier to get a questionable scientist to lie for your cause rather than to actually find evidence. Of course it is the right of a creationist or IDist to believe what ever they want, I could care less what they believe, but they they try to claim the Creationism and ID are valid science or anything more than their belief and claim science is wrong just because their belief says so...that irks me a little, but what really pisses me off is when they try to teach this stuff in schools, like in Kansas. If they want to teach a comparative religion course or a mythology course in high schools and want to teach that these beliefs exist then go for it, but to teach that they are science is just silly.

May 2, 2006

I truely don't understand the protests and marches that occured yesterday. All the new legislation does is criminalize illegal immigration, it isn't going to hurt people who are legally here...which most of the those marching were. Also didn't people immigrate here to work? Why boycott work? All that will do is end up getting you fired at many businesses. The day of the march I recieved a job offer and saw a sign at a Burger King where only 2 people were working during just after peak hours and there were signs everywhere, which read "Now hiring, must be able to work all shifts and all positions." I have never seen such a desperate plea from that place, even when they had the crew working there that screwed up every single order. Getting yourself fired or boycotting exactly what you immigrated here for isn't going to help. When my ancestors came to this country they came, got jobs, and worked their asses off. Even better was what my great great grandfather did when he came to the United States, he invested and purchased land for his sons. Now hundreds of acres in Iowa are owned by their descendents. Then of course those who are anti-immigration are just as confusing in their point of view. I mean you don't see Native Americans out trying to slow immigration. My father-in-law is 3/4 Choctaw and even though he says some very prejudice things about hispanic immigrants he was always for giving them an oppourtunity when he ran his own bussiness, and he didn't under pay them. So many people out there whine and complain about immigrants or illegals taking their jobs, well if you are applying somewhere where they are hiring illegals and you know it blackmail the place "Hire me or I turn you in" just don't expect to make more than minimum wage. Immigrant labor, legal and illegal does have a positive impact no one could afford lettuce if people who's families have lived in the US for generations were out there picking it. Not many people are willing to do that kind of work, I would probably do the work, but then again I'm just trying to get by until I finally get my ass out of school.

My suggestion is don't throw illegals in prison and don't deport them, fine them and tax the hell out of them. Once one is found to be an illegal immigrant and found to be working they should be fined the total ammount of their next paycheck, and a 30% tax should be attached to their taxes from that point forward...yes keep them here, give them a guest worker card of some kind, but since they worked without it initially they have to pay the fees, and of course the fees would help to recover any money that they may have cost or not paid in previous taxes. Also the company which hired them should be fined and an additional tax penalty should be put inplace on the business. Also in order to get any kind of government aid one shoul have to PROVE that they are a citizen, and if found to be using any kind of aid without being a citizen they will have to pay it back through garnishment of paychecks. Hell the US government could really make some money off a plan like that. Anyone found trying to cross the border should be fined, if they have no money then they should be deported, or ask them to sign a contract where they would be able to gain legal status by learning English and joining the US military. Considering the US military is stretched so thin and being used so much in foriegn actions a few hundred extra new recruits a month would be helpful.

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with legal immigration, the vast majority of my ancestors legally immigrated to the United States, with the exception of the small fraction of my ancestors who arrived in late colonial times. I can in no way say that immigration is a bad thing, it isn't, it is part of what makes the USA a great nation. The influx and mixing of differing cultures can be a very beneficial thing, of course uncontrolled it may become a bad thing, which is exactly why legal immigration should continue, while illegal immigration nees to either be stopped or the government needs to find a way to make money off the illegals to recoup the current and previous costs associated with illegal immigrants being here.

The Begining

Morning-
This is my first attempt at a blog so I'll start off with a bit about myself. I'm a 23 year old college student, studying Astronomy at the University of Colorado, and a telemarketer currently..I know I know, everyone hates telemarketers but where else am I going to get $8 bucks an hour plus bonuses and commissions to sit on my butt? Now for all of you who are rude to telemarketers, or who make such strange comments about us calling you on Sundays you need to calm down. I mean some people will say "calling on Sunday is illegel". Do you people who say and believe such things understand that banning the operation of business on a Sunday would constitute a law establishing a national religion in the United States...and you know what? That is more illegal...and our nation was founded by "sabbath breakers" so any of you who think that banning business operations of any kind on a Sunday is illegal or even unamerican you need to freaking leave then! Or all of you move to Texas and break off into your own nation...none of us will miss you. Ok you do have a right to be pissed off if we call on a Holiday, but I mean major holidays like Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Independence Day, not on religious holidays where people don't really do anything. I have been told to "go home" because it was Good Friday, I mean come on? I know some of you who I call never actually had to work a crappy job like telemarketing, but at least have some respect for people who do it. If you have a problem with telemarketing as a whole don't take it out on the telemarketers, and if a telemarketer calls you , and they don't sound like they are in a boiler room (meaning there isn't a lot of talking in the background, there is no echo, and the people calling you speak fairly decent English, boiler room callers either won't speak very good english or they will sound like the slickest salesman in the world) and if the telemarketer is just trying to give you something "free", like an insurance quote, take it. They already probably have all your information that they will ask for, just decline to give them any info regarding birthdate and social security number. If you don't want to give them your age then tell them "I am within 5 years of ___" and that should be all they need if all they are doing is giving you something free. If they tell you that you will recieve a call back in regards to the free quote, or whatever free they are giving you say it is ok, and then when the agent or actual salesperson calls you back turn them down, tell them you changed your mind or say, "Well after the call from your previous representative I researched your company and already got a quote from another local agent." That is in the case of an offer a free insurance quote, and once you say this you disqualify yourself for the quote, and the agent won't call you back again, nor will the initial call center you were contacted by. This way you are helping out the broke desparate person who works for the call center who initially called you while, ensuring you won't recieve a call back in regards to that specific insurance company. Also if you don't like telemarketing and are offered a free auto insurance quote sign yourself up for the quote, even if you want to give bad information go for it, just give a correct name and good number for a call back from the agent, and then tell off the agent when they call back. These agents are the one's responsible for the telemarketer calling you as they employ call centers to generate leads for them. Above all things even you don't want to help out the caller who initially contacts you don't say "I'm not interested" "I'm busy" and don't hang up, specifically say "Put me on your Do-Not-Call list" by doing this they will not call back, and the call will not count against the callers "converstion rate" (the percentage of contacts who agree to a quote, which usually has a quota between 15-20 percent, and the caller may be fired for not maintaining this) This helps the caller and you, and if you still recieve a call back, warn the caller politely and tell them again, on the 3rd call back after requesting to be put on the DNC list ask to speak with the callers supervisor, but never bad mouth that specific caller, that specific caller is not the one who didn't classify the previous calls to you correctly. No matter what you do, just be polite, the telemarketer is trying to be polite to you (in most cases) and will not try to convince you to not be put on the DNC, if they do that then they are either new or they are working out of a boiler room. Of course some places are border line boiler rooms, and it make take a few requests to be put on the DNC for your number to actually be put down on the DNC. Never say dumb things or extremely angry things to a telemarketer, remember these people have your number, name, and possibly your address. A person who finally cracks who has this information could end up being very dangerous (possible identity theft, possible violence, or calls back later from another phone harassing you) I wouldn't do any of these, yet. Also remember some call centers have been run in the past out of prisons with inmates running the phones, I am not sure if this practice still continues, but since ANYONE with a high school diploma of GED can get a job as a telemarketer you have no idea if the person you are being extremely angry and rude with has a history of violence. Always get the number of the call center, no matter what they are selling, or offering. Ask for the person you are speaking with's first name (I hate giving my last name to prospects since some are quite nuts and mad at me for calling them) and the first name of the current supervisor. This way if you feel your identity has been stolen you can call the call center and ask them. If you want more specific information just ask the caller for their number specific number that indentifies them at the call center. If the caller seems confused by this request then they are either new or you are being called by a boiler room operation.

Anyway, enough with my pissed off telemarketer rant, and a little bit more of an introduction. Aside from being a college student and telemarketer I am also a husband and a father...well a father to my dog Lilly and my three-toed box turtle Turtley. It will be many years until I father any children if I have my way about it. Aside from working as a telemarketer I have worked in a factory packaging "electro-surgical pencils", delivering papers, as a cook and counter person at KFC, as a technical reference assistant (great job..just a crappy boss), a cook and dishwasher at a small town restaurant, some barista work, farm laborer, and even as a door-to-door salesman. Anything that pays the rent.