I just got a call from Telus. Apparently they have a special deal for new high-speed internet subscribers and they offered it just to me. All I had to do was change over to @telus.

 

It was one of those calls that ring, and when you answer it, there is a dead space for a few seconds until someone on the other end realizes that you’ve answered the phone…you know what I mean?

 

Once I heard the initial pitch, I said that I had too much invested in the email address I have with my current provider. I didn’t want to change just now, but thanks for the offer.

 

Not to be put off by that lame excuse, the caller responded that if I change service now, I get free notification of up to 10 family members about my new email address. And as an aside she asked, “what do you use the internet for now?”  Like what’s the problem, eh? How much of an issue should it be?

 

I’m afraid I let her have it:

“personal email, banking, newsgroups, blogging, RSS feeds, newsletters, business contacts, purchasing software and books, browsing the news and technology sites, finding out about personal and business events, taking courses, looking for work, distributing work….I probably have my address in a thousand places and I’m just not prepared to change my coordinates for all of that right now, thank you very much”.

 

I’m calmer now and a bit embarassed.

 

I’m not really concerned about the marketing by Telus.  It’s good to know that there is some competition out there.  However, it’s scary just thinking about all the connections to one email address. I really should get a domain and a permanent address. My last change was 3 or 4 years ago, from @rogers to @shaw, and that was painful enough. I’ve got much more tied up in it now. I’ve got an @gmail address just recently, but that’s not going to cut it for business purposes.

 

Note to self: look into a domain.