Did you know . . .

. . . that today is Hello Day? In 1877, Thomas Edison wrote a letter to the president of the telegraph company in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, suggesting that when people answer the phone, they use the word "Hello" instead of the word "Ahoy" as suggested by Alexander Graham Bell. By 1889, central exchange operators were known as hello-girls due to the association between the greeting and the telephone . . . Reach out and touch someone today!

Remember when common jobs for women were secretaries, nurses, stewardesses, and telephone operators? Now a young woman can dream and do anything she wants to. Her drive is the only thing stopping her.

Does it ever annoy you when someone's answering message sounds like they are really picking up and you start talking like they are really there and then right in the middle of your one-sided conversation, the machine message comes on and you say "oh, brother" and start all over. How about something short and to the point, "Ahoy, matey . . . leave a message."

(When my dad answered the phone, it always sounded like "yello")