It’s nothing new. We’ve all experienced it many, many times. Could there be a more “known” two-second pause on the planet? You answer, you hear that odd pause and your brain instantly flashes “oh darnit (or otherwise), it’s a telemarketer” — and in the remaining instant you prep yourself with a subconscious “no, no, no” to resist the pitch. Then there’s a snap, the line quality changes as if you’re now connected to someone on the other side of the planet, which of course you are, and then both parties experience the brief question of whether or not they really are connected.
I’ll come clean. At this point, I think it’s pretty fun to pretend like A) I’m not actually on the line, or B) the line quality is terrible. I figure it’s totally fair given that they’re the ones who are calling me and wasting my time. Despite I might add, being on the DNC and any other no-call list I can muster. This entertaining and faux-static-y “..cchhkkdssshh… CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW!?” routine can go on for a few seconds or so, at which point, you totally have the option to simply hang up. Or not. Whatever, you’re in the driver’s seat at that point. Do as you please.
And the beauty of automatic phone dialing machines is that you never seem to get a call right back. They just mindlessly call the next number on the list.
As many of you know, it’s “a proven fact” that the number of projects a person has going at one time is inversely proportional to blog posting frequency. (As illustrated) 
