Telemarketing combined with door to door?

I discovered a worrying and very annoying trend, that telemarketing is being combined with door to door sales. I searched on the net and can't find anything about it.

I discovered this only after I changed over to VOIP and the telemarketing guys can't really get to me. All they can get is to my voicemail if I allow them. But then they find something else to get to me!

First somebody called from a local number. I answered the phone but they hang up. Soon, but not immediate, somebody knock on my door. Obviously, it dawned on me that they called to make sure somebody is home to answer the door! However, I would think this is some desperate local business promotion. They have my phone number and my address because I once patronized them. So it's legal to call me. Of course it's legal to hang up, especially I don't know who hang up on me. Still, these business hire some marketing company to do the dirty work and risk annoying their local customers.

Now the others are big guys like solar, energy, windows. They sent a whole team to "invade" whole neighbourhoods. They drop off truck loads of mostly out of work but presentable people on a neighbourhood in day time, and then pick them up at sunset. How do they use the telephone?

No, they don't worry nobody answers the door. They have time, the whole day. They want to make sure that you are not at home! They already know that the "decision maker" blocked them one way or the other, either telemarketing or door to door. They watch you until you went to work. Then they call to see if the wife or somebody other than the decision maker is at home to gain entry. This is evil.

I have received calls at home when I worked at home in those days, but at a time just when I was out!

It's absolutely not tinfoil that they watch me. They just do. Once there was a farm promotion. I told the door to door guy that I don't deal with grocery and my wife is not around. When my wife return home and parked the car on the driveway, the guy soon knock on the door. But I don't think they sit in a car watching like a PI. They drive around or walk around in the neighbourhood and made sure that they visit my wife when she returns before sunset.

The best defence against door to door is a security cam. They don't seem to like it. If you have those cheap ones with blinking led's and able to turn around and pick up sound. They will probably leave you alone in the 1st place because you wouldn't need to go to the door and have plenty of time to decide not to open the door for bullshit. Our house is full of windows and it's impolite not to open the door to told them to go away when they see you near the windows.

But then even neighbour kids are nervous to come to your door when they know that you have a security cam.

How to wall mount cheap power strips and add electrical outlets where you want as much as you want

I want to add electrical outlets and usb charging ports in a lot of places around the house for portable computers, tablets, phones and such. I have been thinking for years but no cost effective solutions.

Adding inside wall mount outlets is the ultimate solution but they are actually not cheap, and a lot of hassle to open up the dry wall. With a cheap oscillator tool and a bundled wall cutter, it's trivial to open up the drywall, but you still have dust and you have to paint over patches that isn't covered by the new wall socket plates.

USB in wall sockets are way over priced, considering that adaptors comes "free" with your device. I don't think they can fast charge the iPad's while some high current charger for the iPad's may damage your Android phone (I've heard).

Power strips are attractive. In the same spot you may need an outlet for the computer, an USB for the phone and one for a tablet. With the extension cord, basically you can add them where you want them. But the problem is, the mounting holes are trash. I've been using them for years. It's only OK if you leave it on the ground or hang over some screws. If you need to plug and unplug occasionally, they just come off from the mounting screws.

In the past, you can open up the power strip, screw the bottom onto the wall securely, and then put the cover back on with screws. For reasons of safety or cost, they don't do it anymore, at least not on a few dollar power strips.

All of a sudden, it dawned on me that I can sacrifice two earth pins as the mounting holes. If you mount the strip on a vertical stud, it will never come off. As they are mostly for electronics, the earth pins are never used.

If you have doubts, unscrew the strip and take a look inside if it is possible and safe to wall mount like that. But for the cheap strips from hardware store, you can do it easily and safely.

The earth pin socket are usually connected by two horizontal rails on the sides of the socket, with nothing blocking the bottom housing. A screw will pass through the plastic bottom and straight into the wall.

By construction, the earth pin will be well isolated from the other pins so after mounting, the screws will still only be connected to earth. You don't worry about exposed earth because some appliances with metal cases are just earthed outside. Earth is a safety pin and normally nothing happens over it. You can also cover the screw with a piece of insulating electrical tape of the same color.

No, cheap outlets don't have USB's but USB adaptors/chargers are cheap and plentiful. Pick some with national lab certified. If you want, you can glue it on the power strip too.