Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for February 26, 2024

Now Rat can change his outgoing message from “Drop dead” to “Good luck leaving a message.”

I’m assuming most of those voicemails are bill collectors.

My mom did that EXACT same motion that RAT just did years ago at the revelation that I was gonna stop taking my meds, but then STOPPED when her “cover” was blown, and NO champagne was bought or consumed afterwards, sorry!!!! Dan aka…

I’m the luckiest person on Earth. I get no unwanted calls or texts. Had this number for over 20 years

This is an election year … every politician … every ballot measure proponent and opponent … every life insurance salesperson … is calling our numbers

No one I know leaves voicemail. They either text or nothing.

This is why I’m off the grid, and I sic eagles on carrier pigeons…..

Or you can just simply deactivate voicemail…

Rat’s voicemail box is full, and his cup o’ joy overfloweth! :D

Voicemail? Who use that ancient means of communication anymore?

So many we call have “Mailbox is Full” message! Rough when you want to return a call, and they never know you called to return their call!

Well I give you this, Rat, it stops telemarketers!

But…but…but… Rat may miss out on a great new electric plan.

It takes days for messages to come onto my phone.

Old land lines….sigh….

Put away the champagne, Rat – people can still text you.

hope the message wasn’t important. :J

Back in the day, I found out there was a Bell Telephone number you could call that always had a busy signal. I believe it was so the technicians could check and make sure a new line was working. I got out of a lot of trouble by giving that number and patiently waiting while people tried to call my “parents” or my “boss.”

My son likes to answer spam calls with "I can’t talk to you—I’m Amish and don’t have a phone. They always hang up on him.

I have an app for that.

So voicemail is the worst idea ever. In communications-space, which is a plot where latency is one axis and urgency is the other, a phone call goes in on corner – I want to talk to you, now, in a way we can interact instantly. You know, a conversation.And the phone people thought, I know! If that doesn’t work well, lets plot them down on the opposite corner of the space, where there’s no conversation and the message might take days to be delivered! If ever! Yay!Destroy all voicemail! Worst idea in history.

Yes! No spam! That’s something to celebrate.

Unless a message is left and relevant, I do not feel obligated in any way to respond to unknown numbers. It’s free to ignore such things ; )

I get to block numbers from people or organizations I don’t want to talk to. I get fewer and fewer calls.

I don’t get spam calls about my car warranty expiring anymore. They now send me that information in snail mail spam. :-{

Since Pig must be the only person on Earth that wants to talk to Rat, they must be spam calls.

I have one friend who often leaves some pretty funny voicemails, so I don’t allow it to get full for his sake. Otherwise I’d be with Rat.

Really voicemail seems pretty obsolescent. I’ll see that I missed your call, if you’re someone I want to talk to I’ll return the call at my earliest convenience. If you have specific information that you feel is important to share with me, send a text. If it’s the sort of thing that we really need to discuss in real time, you can text me to that effect; a voicemail would be no less appropriate. And if you’re just calling to spam me, tell me I’m approved for some line of credit I didn’t apply for or offering to buy a house I don’t own in my area code, I’m not going to return your call, or even listen to your message, so don’t waste your time.

Our landline phone has a feature where a caller not in the contact list has to prove that they are human. works 99%

How will Rat know if he’s won the Irish Sweepstakes?

Probably automatically erases after 30 days. The fiendish things keep their secrets well hidden.

Hear, hear…..

Made the little guy sooo happy!

Sting MUST have had phones in mind with his line, “It’s hard to tell the poison from the cure.”

I have never felt any obligation to deal with unsolicited calls. Except by deleting them unheard.

Better to not be able to leave a message than spending the time recording necessary detail for someone… only to have them ring back saying, “You called?” … and having to explain it all over again. Don’t bother having voicemail if you don’t listen to it. Go Rat.

My wife never knew how to get her voicemail, so her mailbox has always been full. I recently retired, and now have time to keep her voicemail empty. I think she’s ready to divorce me!