Land line department:
I still have a land line. A short while ago I was on hold with the VA hospital, trying to make an appointment, when I heard a series of obnoxious beeps. It sounded a lot like a call waiting signal -- but I never signed up for call waiting (or I didn't think I had -- more on that later). I think it's awkward and rude. In this case, even if I had known how to switch over to the incoming call (which I don't), I wouldn't have done so because if the VA had come back to the call while I was taking call #2 they would have hung up and moved on to the next patient.
I received an e-mail from the person who tried to call me. It was important -- she was calling to schedule a job interview. She said she didn't get a busy signal, and the call didn't switch over to voice mail (probably because I use an answering machine and haven't set up voice mail). I called her back and we got the interview set up for next week. So far, so good.
Then I called the phone company to ask if I can disable call waiting, since I don't like it and don't know how to use it. Answer: Nope. It's part of a package. To get rid of call waiting I would have to give up the entire package, which includes unlimited long distance calling. I don't want to give that up, so I'm stuck with call waiting.
RATZ!