Making and keeping friends

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My cell phone I answer freely. It does have caller ID and any one who calls it are people I've given the number to, which is usually people I can talk to pretty well or who aren't offended when I miss, so that's ok. It's the landline I avoid. I hate telemarketers. I feel bad being mean to them because it's just their job, but they stress me out (not to mention that always call at ridiculous times).
Part of the stress is that I hear the ring and I groan because I know I'll have nothing to say. The sooner people come to the realization that I communicate far better in writing than I can manage to stutter out verbally, the happier I'll be. In print I can keep my thoughts in line. When I open my mouth there's just no telling what's going to tumble out and it's usually not related to the conversation, which I was just barely paying attention to anyway.

I had the same problem in the past. Did you try the Do Not Call Registry at http://www.donotcall.gov? It takes up to 3 months for the submission to take effect, but in my case it cut telemarketers calls to zero. And if you receive a call (and have Caller ID to retrieve caller's number), you can just file a complaint.

I had the same problem in the past. Did you try the Do Not Call Registry at http://www.donotcall.gov? It takes up to 3 months for the submission to take effect, but in my case it cut telemarketers calls to zero. And if you receive a call (and have Caller ID to retrieve caller's number), you can just file a complaint.[/quote]
My old phone number was registered and we had no problems whatsoever. Then we moved and the split second we got a new phone number it was like open season on us. Especially after the business license was filed. At least three times a day I got called to see if I'd like to order some credit card machines.

Sweet! Your phone company gave you number and promptly sold it to telemarketers, nothing else. I once was receiving telemarketer calls every 15-30 minutes. There was no way to watch a movie on TV. This was before the registry, so I had to change the number. After that, if any telemarketer called, I just interrupted their talk and requested with my best voice: "Please add my number to your 'do not call list'. Is that understood?". "Yes, sir, goodbye". No more "But, sir..."! It really interrupted them, because they are required by law to pay attention to words "do not call list".

The only problem with the government's do not call list is that nonprofit organizations can still call you.

I had phonophobia until I was forced to make and receive calls as part of my job. It took a while to get rid of it - about a year of working part-time but now I enjoy calls.

I give polite, but suitably bizarre reponses.

As for making friends, I'm alright. Not the best, but I am who I am and obviously there's personal chemistry that goes along with making a great, lasting friendship -- not the temporal "I'll call you next week but what I really mean is I'll never call or see you again!" crap.

Making friends is easy enough. I have fairly reasonable NT emulation. But keeping them, on the other hand. That's a problem.

Unless I find someone really interesting I tend to drift.
That or I get struck by this anoying problem of getting attracted to my friends.

If I get through eaither of those obstacles I seem to have a major NT emulation crash about every 1 and a half to 2 years and then I have to start learning social interaction again.. needless to say my friendships never last through that. That effectively puts a time limit on how long my friendships can last.

It's a cruel world. It only takes one wrong huristic to lose all your friends. I really am on the wrong planet.

I've pretty good at NT emulation, but every now and I also run into a road blocks, especially that small talk stuff. I can never think of anything to say to keep a conversation going. I'd prefer a conversation with an intellectual base over just gabbing about random things to pass time.

I've learned never to turn my back to any of my friends. They've tried to screw me many times before. To quote the X-Files: "Trust no one."

I have a hard time making friends (and keeping them), but I have some friends that tolerate eccentric behaviour.