Argh, such a useful device, but such an irritating one too.
Try taking a nap to rest a little and fight off the cold that my wife has passed to everyone else in the family and no less than 3 -- though it seemed like a dozen -- calls come in separated by approximately 15 minutes each. Just long enough to start to fall asleep again when the phone ring, ring, rings...
I swear that the thing is a curse sent straight from hell. It's here just to irritate the heck out of me and prevent me from getting some much needed rest.
I'd take the damned thing off the hook completely, but then the darned thing wouldn't be available for my in-laws to use to contact us if they have problems and need assistance. Ooops, I should also mention that the in-laws are some of the people that called in the group of calls referenced above. Of course that wasn't an emergency call, just one to check on us. Ugh.
Oh well, now that I'm determined to be up and around for the evening the thing sits silently mocking me. It laughs at me knowing it'll disturb me at just the right moment, interrupting my TV watching, my video gaming, or something else just to break my concentration and enjoyment.
Such is life with A. G. Bell's brainchild.