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Apr. 24th, 2010 02:47 pmThere's an online speculative fiction con running throughout May. The details are here. I'm running a session on Medieval background stuff, and there will be time for questions and answers and general angst. It's all free and the set-up is very straightforward. It's mostly in US time zones.
On an entirely different note, if you want me to donate to your very worthy charity, asking for "Mrs Polack" isn't going to do it. I'm getting so many calls to "Mrs Polack" that I get quite shirty about it, in fact, so you're more likely to set off my temper (and I'm still 100% perimenopausal - when I eventually return to my equable normal self, the whole world will be relieved). Sometimes I point out that I'm not married. Sometimes I point out that Dr or Miss would work as titles, but my first name is just fine, or maybe my whole name. Sometimes I say that next time they call me Mrs Polack I will hang up. I have many many more irritable responses in reserve for repeat callers who won't mend their game. I'm saving up the really rude responses for a particular government organisation who tell me every two weeks that they'll ring back in six months and always, always call me 'Mrs.'
Once (just the once) I got a male caller with a sense of humour. I offered to call him 'Mrs' back and he laughed and didn't sell what he was meant to sell, but I learned all about his dreams of being a fantasy novelist.
Thank you to the friends who've already given me birthday wishes (for the uninitiated, tomorrow I turn 49 for the first time). I did some phone banking yesterday and the bank official (who didn't call me Mrs, not once) and I gave each other a holiday on both our birthdays and wished each other happiness. When she accessed my records, she discovered her birthday is just one day after mine and this year, in Australia, that means she gets a public holiday. It was the most pleasant (and efficient) bank-related conversation I've ever had.
On an entirely different note, if you want me to donate to your very worthy charity, asking for "Mrs Polack" isn't going to do it. I'm getting so many calls to "Mrs Polack" that I get quite shirty about it, in fact, so you're more likely to set off my temper (and I'm still 100% perimenopausal - when I eventually return to my equable normal self, the whole world will be relieved). Sometimes I point out that I'm not married. Sometimes I point out that Dr or Miss would work as titles, but my first name is just fine, or maybe my whole name. Sometimes I say that next time they call me Mrs Polack I will hang up. I have many many more irritable responses in reserve for repeat callers who won't mend their game. I'm saving up the really rude responses for a particular government organisation who tell me every two weeks that they'll ring back in six months and always, always call me 'Mrs.'
Once (just the once) I got a male caller with a sense of humour. I offered to call him 'Mrs' back and he laughed and didn't sell what he was meant to sell, but I learned all about his dreams of being a fantasy novelist.
Thank you to the friends who've already given me birthday wishes (for the uninitiated, tomorrow I turn 49 for the first time). I did some phone banking yesterday and the bank official (who didn't call me Mrs, not once) and I gave each other a holiday on both our birthdays and wished each other happiness. When she accessed my records, she discovered her birthday is just one day after mine and this year, in Australia, that means she gets a public holiday. It was the most pleasant (and efficient) bank-related conversation I've ever had.