The voicemail-blocking app works!

Good news! My phone app that not only blocks unwanted calls, but also disconnects them from heading over to voicemail works well.

The stalking ex called my number yesterday evening. I looked at the app and sure enough, the call was blocked and I didn't get any voicemail. Yay!

It is scary when someone doesn't accept no for an answer and is in denial that the relationship is over. Constantly calling me isn't helpful. This app is great and I am happy with it so far.

On a completely different note, I am able to do twenty pushups in a row. Roughly two weeks ago, I could barely do five. I'm pleased. My biceps are slowly toning up.

This weekend went by too quickly. Here's to another workweek at home.

Sleep and a persistent ex

Last night, I had a difficult time getting to sleep. I sort of drifted off for the first hour and then woke up wide awake.

I did a bit of reading before I went back to bed again. I woke up at my usual start time these days and felt sluggish. I decided to take a sick day and napped throughout the day.

Last month, when I had a number of foot pain issues, I worked through those days with perhaps a couple of hours of sleep. I'm not sure what possessed me to carry on. I didn't have that feeling today.

Perhaps an underlying reason why I didn't sleep well is because my ex-romantic interest keeps calling me. I made it perfectly clear that it was over and that I didn't want him to contact me. Yet, he still continues to call.

He has used three different phone numbers to contact me. I have blocked them all. The downside is that he uses one of these numbers to call me. The number gets blocked on my cell phone, but it still goes to voicemail thanks to my having an Android phone. He leaves me messages, but I don't listen to them. I access my voicemail, delete them, and move on.

Moments ago, I downloaded an app that takes blocked phone numbers and lets them go into its voicemail. Once it does, it disconnects the number, preventing the person to leave a message. I hope that it works. I have everything set up.

Now you know the main reason why I broke up with this jerk. He couldn't take no for an answer when I had helped him financially the first time, but he asked again the second time. I said no and he asked again. He was relentless. I knew that he was bad news.

When I broke up with him, he obviously didn't and can't accept it. Thankfully, the e-mails have stopped and those are easily blocked. I have blocked his text messages, which works well. Phone numbers are all blocked. It's just this one phone number that he uses where he is adamant to leave voicemail.

Here's hoping that I'll have some peace of mind soon.

Dealing with an annoying ex-boyfriend

The ex-boyfriend can't take a hint. I said our relationship was over. He still wants to continue with it.

We were chatting on WhatsApp during our over two-month relationship. I let him know that it wasn't going to work and I let him go by ending our relationship. I also said that I would block him, as I knew how he was the first time I had ended it. Sure enough, he wrote an e-mail to say that we should try again.

I didn't respond to it.

A week later, he used a different phone number of ping me on WhatsApp. He didn't want to acknowledge the issues that I had with him. He continued on as if nothing had happened between us. I blocked him again.

Yesterday, he texted me directly. The graphic with the saying, "You never know how much you love someone until you watch them love someone else," was eerie. I am getting over you. I have no interest picking up a new relationship.

I blocked both his cell phone numbers from getting texts and phone calls on my phone.

I am relieved that I ended it so soon. Clearly, he doesn't respect my wish to end our relationship or me. Not getting proper respect has been my issue with him both times that I ended our relationship. I can't be with someone when he dismisses my needs and thoughts.

Broke up and feeling good

The other day, when I wrote about how my manager banned me from the office without a ton of compassion, I was dealing with another issue.

I decided to end my relationship with the guy that I have been remotely dating for just over two months. The issue last month about not taking no for an answer and not respecting me? It happened again. I feel good.

I went ahead and blocked him from WhatsApp. I told him that it was over.

The downside is that I had lent him money. I don't expect him to pay me back. If he does, it would be a miracle.

He needed more money to get him out of a horrible construction contract. I put my foot down and said no. The following day, he asked me again. I asked him what part of no was unclear. He completely did not listen to what I had said. So, he's out of my life.

I need to find a nicer guy who respects who I am and what I say. I also need a guy who doesn't think that I am a bank.

It's the weekend. Hope that you have a safe one under these odd, unpredictable times.

Learning from checking in on apps and broadcasting my location on social media

I had something odd happen to me yesterday. Some may consider it scary. I have a feeling that I have put some of the puzzle pieces together.

After work, I went to Starbucks to get a beverage. The baristas there were nice. I ordered my drink through the app like I usually do, went through the drive-thru, got my drink, and drove home.

I normally check in using my Yelp app. Some people are afraid of having their location shown. For me, I used to be in this camp. My thought is that checking and then leaving is okay. I'm gone that any stacker can't catch up to you.

Well, here's the odd part. I must have been twenty minutes away. I got a call from this Starbucks location. It was the cafe's phone number on my phone. It was one call after the other for a total of four calls. No message was left.

It then shifted to a completely different number. When the third call came in, I was waiting at yet another drive-thru. I answered the call and stayed silent.

The guy on the other end knew my first name and my phone number. He was wondering why I wasn't answering. Well, I was at a drive-thru deciding on what I wanted to order. He eventually hung up and called back for a fourth time.

I had placed my order. I picked up and said hi. He proceeded to say that I had checked in on Yelp and asked, "Why the f*ck do you check in so many times?" I decided to hang up on him. I didn't like the swearing and I didn't understand why he was so upset.

I have an app on my phone that not only blocks these calls, but I can report them to a database and add my comments. I did just that.

I see a couple of things that contributed to this incident:

• When I checked in on my Yelp app, it also broadcasts that check-in on Twitter. The guy saw my tweet on Twitter. I looked at the interactions and found one hit in my statistics. Only my friends on Yelp know my check-ins and they are decent people who would not harass me.
• As for getting my phone number, my Starbucks app was compromised a few months back. My phone number was likely obtained from that incident.

Put my tweet and my phone number together, and you have someone out there who doesn't have a life.

I also feel that he has a software application where he can change the phone number that ultimately gets displayed on your phone when you receive a call. It seems rather clean that he used the Starbucks number to call me four times, and then used another one with a different area code exactly four times in the same rapid succession.

When he swore at me, it was quiet in the background. He obviously was not at Starbucks. You cannot be in two different cities in the Greater Toronto Area within seconds.

When I was in Dallas, I disabled my check-ins being broadcast to Twitter. I don't know what possessed me to put it back on, but I have decided to permanently stop it.

It's quite the lesson. The good news is that I have set up these precautions and will see if it makes a difference.