Ho hum. Looks like Rivera ran out of things for Mark to say, so we may have to endure blathering for the rest of the week. Blathering is a handy technique people employ for ending a phone call that is going on longer than you like. But that can take longer than we’d like.

Some of us are more adept and can end a call more efficiently by saying something like “That sounds really interesting, Bob, but I’ve got a lumbago appointment in 30 minutes. Talk with you later. Bye!” <CLICK!>

The real masters of ending phone calls will get the other party to end the call for them:
First party: “Say, did you read the latest Mark Trail blog? Wait, I can read it to you; it’s only four or five paragraphs today…”
Other party: <Oh, that would be—wait, my phone is about dead. Let’s chat later. Bye!> <CLICK!>