EEk! Cell Spam ahead? Will telemarketers get access to our cell
phones starting Jan. 1? That
’s one to give you the creeps, isn’t it, but it is just a rumor.
At least we don’t have to pay for e-mail spam or land-line
telemarketing calls, no matter how vexing and time consuming they
are.
EEk! Cell Spam ahead?
Will telemarketers get access to our cell phones starting Jan. 1?
That’s one to give you the creeps, isn’t it, but it is just a rumor. At least we don’t have to pay for e-mail spam or land-line telemarketing calls, no matter how vexing and time consuming they are. And I can’t tell you how annoyed my cat gets with me when I toss her off my lap to leap for the phone, only to discover the tell-tale two-second silence.
However, the caller’s fears are – at this point – groundless. Telemarketers will NOT get our cell numbers Jan. 1; we CAN voluntarily give them to a 411 directory list being compiled by Qsent, of Portland, Ore., if we want. And we will be asked by our wireless service if we want our numbers to be included (except Verizon, which isn’t playing), but we don’t have to opt out as we do for land line phones.
And about the only reason to add your number is if you have given up your home phones entirely and want to be listed someplace or conduct business entirely by cell phone – or unless you’re completely nuts. The 411 cell list should be available in six months or so.
To add your land line number (not your cell) to the “Do Not Call” list, contact www.donotcall.gov or call 888-383-1222. That, too, is free.
Smelly fungi
What can be done to reduce that absolutely awful odor at Condit Road and Diana Avenue from the nearby mushroom growing operation. I’ve lived here almost 12 years putting up with that smell that also blows onto the Nordstrom Elementary Sch-ool campus. Is there anything that can be done with it.? Will it be with us forever?
Well, gee, the mushroom farm was there, emitting its undeniably “earthy” odors long before the caller moved in and before the houses or school were built nearby. Mushrooms and their odors aren’t cute, like Frank Dutra’s goats so they don’t have a fan club, but the owners still have a right to do business, don’t you think?
It’s not their fault that people bought houses downwind. Eventually the owners will sell and more houses or businesses will spring up in its place.
We are sympathetic to your woes, caller, since we have to drive past the intersection to go home, though our “experience” is more fleeting than yours. The mushroom farm in question is in the county, outside of city control. County regulations tend to be more lax about agricultural concerns.
Carolyn Walsh, a county principal planner, said South Valley Mushroom Farms’ 10-year use permit for the 1170 Diana Ave. farm expired in December 2003; an application for a new use permit is in the works but not yet ready for a hearing. Residents within 300-feet of the farm will be notified of the hearing.
In the meantime, interested residents can look over the application (File No. 5619-04P04A) at the County Government Center, 70 W. Hedding St., San Jose, and can submit comments in writing at the same address. Supervisor Don Gage represents our area.
Rachael Gibson, Gage’s land-use person, said odors are part of any environmental study and, in fact, the county employees “nasal ranger” whose job it is to “smell out” trouble. If odors are raised as a potential problem, the county could conduct a special analysis.
Gibson also said that mushroom farms that are indoors (and that remove their manure piles regularly), smell far less than those outdoors. Monterey Mushrooms on Hale/Santa Teresa is entirely indoors, she said, and rarely offends.
The mushroom farm people did not answer calls for comment by press time.
n The Red Phone sounds off Saturday in The Times.
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