frickin' telemarketers

I despise spam in all its forms, but I am reserving a special place in hell for telemarketers. Not the people on the other end of the line, necessarily...they are just doing their jobs [though some do it better than others]. The companies that buy and sell lists, invest in auto-dialing infrastructure so they can make thousands of calls an hour in the hopes that some tiny fraction of a percent will buy...it is the exact equivalent of email spam.

Just got two 7am calls from a telemarketer. Especially annoying since it was another tossyturny night, and I was finally in a nice dream-filled state...I *hate* being awakened by a ringing phone. Ignored the first call after checking caller ID; answered second one to tell them (a) check the time zone, (b) I'm on the do not call list, and (c) remove my number.

Here's the latest 'they must burn in the fiery depths of hell' twist: the telemarketers are getting around the 'do not call' list by claiming that they are "returning a request for information". Bastards. Scum. Evil money-grubbing mud-eating mother-defiling puss-sucking donkey descendants.

Grumble.