the art of the speaker phone

my boyfriend has stopped using his headset. i worry it will end our relationship. seriously. all day long i listen to men rattle on about how important and great whatever it is they are referring to or taking about is in a LOUD voice. the last thing i want at the end of the day is to call the sfo to hear a yell in response.

is there an art to the speakerphone? Yes. Apparently there are well documented protocols out there that people are writing about but when do folks inside the walls of the office get a chance to learn about these hard and fast rules? (hard and fast is added her for emphasis) its clear there is a decline of mental capacity inside America, and I fear items like this one, that seem so small and insignificant, are really very very very very important.

So lets look over the simple rules people are talking about:
1.) DONT YELL.
This seems simple, but everyone yells into their cell phone like its a two way radio so I don't envision this habit declining rapidly.
2.)Announce your name in a group setting.
Again, simple manners. People tend to forget that others do not recogonize your voice. Just think of it this way..your not howard stern. or jerry seinfield. or ted kopel. Those are the only people that pop to mind outside of the NPR gang that I would "recogonize" if they called me on the phone.
3.)Don't talk over others.
Stop talking and start listening America. I could use this sentence repeatedly over and over again and it would be applicable to just about everyone I meet. SHUT UP!!!!
4.)Don't take another call when you are on one already!
How many times have you heard Ralph pick up and tell his wife that yeah, he will pick up some wine on the way over to the Howard's that evening? enough said.
5.)Avoid multi-tasking.
Stop shuffling papers and typing while you are on the phone. Trust me, you have TIME for this call that you are taking. Are you Donald Trump? Then maybe you don't have time but then ask your self, Donald, why did you accept the call in the first place?
6.) Turn off your other phone.
I love listening to the macarena or other ridiculous tunes flow out of cell phones (that people have not learned how to turn off??)
7.) Do not EAT or COOK while on the phone.
How about some flames and sizzle please? Some chomping? No thanks. Also, don't take me to McDonald's with you! I am sitting at my computer working and don't need the hunger pangs evoked by listening to your order.
8.)Make sure others can hear you.
How many times is there someone on a call talking and I speak up asking them to increase their volume and everyone else is like yeah, I couldn't hear them either. Make sure people can hear you--and ask people to speak up!

so will the speakerphone end our relationship? no. but i have asked very nicely for him to stop using it all together..... :--)

being sick of being sick

Ugh. When is the last time you have been really, really sick. It hit light a flash of light on Friday, suddenly I was down for the count. And I mean DOWN. I have not slept this much since I was like 10 years old. Today is Wednesday and finally feeling like being vertical is workable.

When you have nothing to do but stare at the wall its amazing what you can contemplate...consider...and really evaluate. I have spent the last days thinking about life, my house, moving, my relationship, whether I want a family, how my life should be shaping, and where my passions are going to take me next. I have only come up with a few answers but I look forward to the coming weeks to see how the change that I have invited feels inside my life.

I don't think I have mentioned the a fore mentioned "change." I put the house up for sale...or at least its going up for sale tomorrow. Trying to spark some inertia to get the wheels of change up and running again. Its time for a stretch. I am stuck. Stuck. Stuck in the same position and need to be challenged a bit. I am so stressed, freaked out, and otherwise just plain scared about making this change, but in my mind those flags mean....its right.