Current mood:	lonely
Current music:	loud (really loud) fan noises

A Change in the Docket Algorithm
There are a few situations I hate being in. One of them is having to ask the question "Can I call [so-and-so] now?". Maybe I think it's too late, or that I think they are busy, possibly that I'm calling them too often. In the past I have attempted to minimize my ability to cause this feeling in others. I tell _anyone_ who ever expresses a concern over calling me that they can call 24 hours a day: if I don't want to receive their phone call, I simply won't answer it; and if any phone call would be inconvenient, I will make sure my phone doesn't ring. If I really care about someone I'll even explicitely tell them that I will probably wake up to answer their call anyway (something that tends to apply to all people anyway, I hardly ever do selective caller group screening, even as amazingly setup I am for it, day or night).

However, I've decided today, after spending weeks in the most painful version of this that I've ever had to experience, that this isn't enough. I now extend this further guarantee: that no matter how much I may not want to talk to you, I _will_ answer your call in the shortest time period possible. If this requires me to use pay phones or carry about hand-crank cell phone chargers, so be it. _All_ calls, regardless of purpose or utility (so even if I can't or won't actually help you with whatever you need) _will_ be answered. And not just some day, but soon.

To steal a line of reasoning from a book I flipped through recently: calling people is easy. There is no excuse to not call someone. There's always some time in transit between places and always other routes to getting or returning messages. I _accidentally_ call people from my pocket... it can't possibly be difficult. If you aren't answering someone's call, you probably hate them.

Note that this only applies to communication that involves a telephone currently: so text messages and phone calls. In other words, I still feel free to ignore your IMs.