No mute?!

I was going to attempt to drive into work this morning, but the only thing that I couldn't do from home was go to a meeting. Someone set up a number for people to call into, so that got rid of my only reason for leaving. I didn't think the roads were that bad, beyond our driveway and the road to 70, but since I'd been spending a lot of time reading a book, I thought I might as well continue doing that.

Calling in was interesting, though. I looked all over and, to my dismay, not one of our phones had a mute button. Having been on the other end of conference calls with amusing background noise, I knew that I didn't want to cause any distractions. I was worried that FIFO would start barking and my mother would yell at him. I could have used my cell phone, but I didn't feel like using my anytime minutes. Next time, I will use them. Not five minutes into the call, a raccoon strolled onto the deck for an afternoon snack of bird seed. One of the few things that provokes FIFO to bark and ram his feet the sliding glass doors is raccoons. Other things include opossums, song birds and the odd feather. He restrained himself for a time, while my mom tried to calm him down. Finally, he both barked and rammed. Meanwhile, I was pressing my hand into the holes of the microphone until it felt like my palm was being extruded inside the phone. Fortunately, someone who was listening assured me that he didn't hear anything. A mute button, however, is obviously something I need to consider as a "must have" when I buy my next phone.