You're Calling From Where?

Hey, Friends.

Did you ever stop to appreciate what a thing of beauty Caller ID really is?  It has it's flaws, of course, but it really is helpful.

I was going back through my messages and call logs, deleting the junk I don't need, and I noticed one number had called a few times, but they never left a message. Okay, not terribly strange, but the name that came up on Caller ID is what got my attention.

Waxahachie, Texas.

What?  That's a mouthful.  And I say that with nothing but love, Waxahachie.  This is coming from someone who lives in Poughkeepsie -- I know what it's like to live in a place with a name that gives people pronunciation problems.

Had I been to Waxahachie and didn't even know it?  I was just in Texas visiting my brother and his family.  Maybe it was some place nearby that I hadn't noticed? Maybe it was a business in the area that was trying to contact me, not realizing I live in New York?  I know most of the names around where I was -- Padre Island, Corpus Christi, Port Aransas, Robstown, Rockport.  I don't remember seeing Waxahachie, but it was possible.

So I Googled it, as now I was curious as to where this place actually was located.

Waxahachie is nowhere near where I had been.  Turns out it's closer to Dallas.  I didn't even fly through Dallas on this trip.

The mystery deepens.

As mentioned, I do have family and friends who live in Texas.  South Texas and Houston -- calls from those parts of the state wouldn't really surprise me.

So Dear Mystery Caller From Waxahachie:

Please leave a message next time.  I'm assuming you aren't a business, or you would already have left a message.  Maybe you are mindless phone spam, or a survey.  Maybe you are someone trying to contact a friend or relative, and you have the wrong number.  The world may never know.

I'm curious now.  Please leave a message next time.  Humor me.

xoxo,
Me

Arbitron

"Arbitron" has been calling my house multiple times a day for the last two weeks. Who the heck is Arbitron?

Tonight they called when I was actually at home. I answered since I want to know who keeps calling -- especially since it was now 9:45 pm. 

A guy says hello, then hangs up on me. WTF.  

 I am guessing, based on a quick Google search, this is some sort of survey.  

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen_Audio

Apparently they would prefer to listen to my voicemail message rather than speak to an actual person.  

Good job with the data gathering, guys. Hope you are getting a lot of helpful information from my generic, preprogrammed voicemail recording.