Ten on Tuesday: Telephone Trouble Edition

I could surely go for some of those Ten Favorite Cookout Foods today.

Watermelon
Bratwurst
Corn on the Cob
Homemade Ice Cream
Cheeseburgers
Potato Salad
Picnic Eggs (old joke from church--you might know these as deviled eggs)
Potato Chips and French Onion Dip
Pistachio Salad
Coconut Cake
Strawberries and Pound Cake (maybe with a little whipped cream, too)

I am ready to rip the phone out of the wall and throw it out the door. It is quite close to voting day for the primaries. That means about six computerized messages and polls daily. They fill our answering machine when we are gone and disrupt whatever we are doing while at home. Today, however, has had an added bonus. It is a sweepstakes scam. The claim is that I am the third price winner of 2010 for paying my monthly bills on time. No fewer than five times did the same individual called within about a 90-minute period. The attempts were laughable, and if they were not so numerous, I would be laughing right now. I did chuckle on the inside picturing Hermes Conrad as the person on the other end. No, I am not going to my local mega-mart to wire money to the islands where an agent will take care of my percentages so I can get my claim receipt which I would give to a waiting UPS car that would deliver my bonus prize basket and check for 1.5 million, nor will I be attempting to cash a check at a banking establishment that has no branches in this area. My telephone service provider's response was an attempt to sell me additional features.

I think I might refuse to answer the phone for at least the rest of today, or possibly the week. For now, I am going to relax to the soothing aroma of baking bread, drink some nice tea, and maybe even finish a pair of socks.