Up until recently, my cell phone didn’t ring very often. Usually the people dialing my number were family and friends. But lately, my cell has been ringing more and at, shall we say, inopportune times and rung by people wanting money.

I received a phone call one day last week when I had a face full of shaving gel as I was about to swipe the razor across my face. I checked the caller ID. The area code locator said it was from Washington, D.C.

Oh, boy! Could it be Congressman Ron Kind’s office to leak something about his campaign? What about Senator McCain or Senator Obama’s presidential campaigns finally coming to their senses to allow a Z-list columnist like me tag along for the weekend instead of all the A-list columnists and reporters?

No such luck. It was a telemarketing call.

“Congratulations,” the automated voice said, “You may be the winner of a new satellite TV system.” I flipped the phone shut with disgust. The only good thing about that moment was I managed not to nick myself and kept the phone free of shaving gel.

How is it that companies are getting our cell phone numbers to market their goods and services? Don’t these places know that it costs the person receiving the call minutes toward their monthly cell plan? Again, how did my cell number get on a list of numbers to be called?

I put the number there. It probably happened when I bought something online. Perhaps it was when I registered my new antivirus software for my computer.

That begs the question, “Why would I give my cell number as a point of contact for Internet purchases or software registration?”

It has to do with how times have changed. How many of you list your cell phone as your primary phone number? Meaning: You don’t list your landline as a point of contact. I don’t. I only list my cell phone. That’s part of the reason why I’ve been receiving telemarketing calls on my cell.

The other reason why I and so many others receive telemarketing calls on our cell phones goes back to 2005 when the government allowed cell phone numbers to be catalogued. That means access to your cell number can be bought and sold for business purposes.

When I finished shaving, I logged on to www.donotcall.gov to place my cell number on the national do-not-call list. Ironically, while I was registering my number, another call came on my cell. This time it was from southern California.

Somehow I didn’t think it was a newspaper syndicate looking for new talent. I didn’t bother to answer the phone. I just smiled and continued to enter my information to register my cell number on the do-not-call list. Hopefully now I can shave in peace.

Columnist Tim Gray, a West Salem resident, can be reached at tim.gray.matter@gmail.com.