To start, I’d need a phone number other than the 800 number the disk jockey gave out on the air. Calling an internal department at PacBell, I asked for the "POTS number" for the 800 number. ("POTS" stands for—are you ready for this?—"plain old telephone service"; it’s a standard, everyday term used around the phone company.) I needed the POTS number because the 800 number used for the radio contest had a "choke" placed on it, limiting the flow of calls that could come in from each part of the station’s broadcast area, and my plan wouldn’t work if any of my calls were being choked. The lady I was talking to didn’t even ask what my name was or whether I worked for Pacific Bell; she just gave me the number.