Recently, I was reminded of some very important lessons for hobbyists and providers alike to learn or remember.  Much of this is common sense, and many of you already know all of these things.  Nevertheless, sometimes people get lazy or careless or complacent; and forget to take reasonable and prudent precautions.  

I list these here because (1) I need to vent a little bit; and (2) maybe someone will read this list and save themselves (or someone else!) from the difficulties which I've been experiencing at home lately.

HOBBYISTS:
--Never, ever, ever, ever give a provider your personal cell phone number.  NEVER.  Especially if you have a spouse or SO.  It doesn't matter if you trust her, if she's well-reviewed, if she wants to send you a pic but your hobby phone doesn't get pics, if your Google Voice account is down, whatever.  NEVER give out your personal number if someone else (wife, boss, mother, etc.) has access to your phone.  

PROVIDERS:
--If a hobbyist gives you his cell phone number, treat it discreetly.  If he asks you to say, only use it between the hours of 9AM and 5PM during the workday, please follow his instructions.

--If you fail to follow these instructions and send him a picture of yourself, say at 2:30AM, be aware that he (and others in his household) may not be pleased.  This is especially important if he has already told you he is a married man, and in need of discretion.

--If he texts back at 2:30AM and says "I don't know who you are, please stop texting me," you should probably stop texting him.  It is fairly safe to assume that either (1) it is a legitimate wrong number; or (2) the hobbyist has a wife or girlfriend looking over his shoulder and is trying to bluff his way out of the situation.

--Do not, I repeat, do NOT text him back and say, "Oh, so this isn't -real name-?", thus forever shattering his efforts at deception.

I hope this was helpful.  I sure wish someone had reminded me of this a couple of weeks ago.