Phone Phun

Dial-a-story services generally allow you to call or log in to listen to a story. This one's different, in that you are encouraged to leave a story, as well as listening to one.

The Story Collector is an opportunity to share with others the story you never got to tell, or the old favorite that the kids keep pestering you to tell again and again. Stories run from serious to amusing, touching to outrageous, and just about everything in between. While you can listen to stories submitted by others, this is your chance to make your own mark.

Fill in a web form with some minimal information—your name, email address, and any comments you want to make, and you'll be given a toll-free number to call to tell your story in your own voice. If you want to remain anonymous, that's an option as well. Make the phone call, tell your story, and you're good. Now everybody can hear about your most memorable vacation, the time the cat died, or why Aunt Mabel insists on bringing fruitcake to holiday dinners when nobody can stand the stuff.

You've done everything right. You have an unlisted number. You block Caller ID on your phone. All your phone numbers are on the "do not call" list. And still you get the annoying phone calls from telemarketers. Or maybe it's calls from folks you can't block—political calls, surveys, people with whom you have an established business relationship. No matter how you cut it, though, getting that call right as Gilligan's Island comes on is no laughing matter. How do you get your life back? How do you get off the phone?

When you need to get off the phone, you need Sorry Gotta Go. This site has oodles of sound files that can give you just the excuse you need to cut off that phone call right now, so you can get on with life. You can download any of these sound files, or play them right off your computer. They run the gamut from semi-official phone company sounds ("We're sorry; you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service…") to crazy sounds (helicopter flying over, someone knocking at the door) that give you just the break you need to shout "sorry, gotta' go!" before you slam the phone down.

Sorry Gotta' Go is a free service, and you don't need to sign-up to use it.