I like 'em. I have a book of short stories written in Low Saxon. I've listened to the Low Saxon lessons produced by Radio Bremen. I'd love to learn more, but it's hard to find materials.

Really? That's not what you said here.

Wow, you're right. That was a wildly weird post. I wish I could go back and edit it...

Here you don't use "antes de", but "hasta": "le había llamado (actually I've never heard telefonear) tres veces, hasta que levantó el teléfono".

(And I have no idea why I said "hasta que levantara el teléfono" was an option in this context, although it could be used in other contexts.)
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Then, unrelated to the correction, I mentioned that you got the use of "antes de" wrong, which is only followed by either an infinitive or "que + subj.", as a rule intrinsic to the expression, it's a question of vocabulary. No matter what context, "antes de" just can't be followed by a verb in the indicative (as you did in *antes de llamó).

You usually use the indicative when the subject of both the main clause and the secondary clause are the same:

(Ella) Antes de quedar embarazada (ella) solía pasearse por aquí a menudo.
Before she got pregnant she used to walk around here frequently.
(Using the subjunctive, rare: (ella) antes de que quedara embarazada (ella) solía pasearse por aquí a menudo)

You usually use the subjunctive when the subject of the main clause is different than the one in the secondary clause:

(Yo) Pensé en darle un regalo antes de que se fuera (él) de regreso a los Estados Unidos, pero al final no lo hice.
I thought on giving him a gift before he went back to the U.S., but in the end I didn't do it.
(With the infinitive, rare in turn: "(Yo) Pensé en darle un regalo antes irse (él) de regreso a los Estados Unidos".)
Yup, just as people from Madrid say "A mi amiga la di un regalo" (Standard: "a mi amiga le di un regalo"), etc.

Saxon ≠ Low Saxon. Duh!

Oh, so it's Upper Saxon you hate. Would you say it's as bad as Pittsburghese is to my ears?

I'm not you, so how would I know?

I do know that this whole line of argumentation is tendentious, as it ignores completely the difference in context between the two comments.

Just to make sure I understand, I'll use a shortened version of your example.

Pensé en darle un regalo antes de irme. (I thought about giving him a gift beforeI left.

Pensé en darle un regalo antes de que se fuera. (I thought about giving him a gift before he left.

I think I was pretty straightforward about it sounding bad to me. My point is that linguistic taste is something that's entirely subjective and what sounds good to someone might sound awful to another. I don't think there is a problem with acknowledging that I don't like the sound of X language variety. Granted, this might be different if I were talking to a native speaker of this variety.

That, I think, is the crucial difference here. It's one thing to make a generic statement along the lines of "I don't like X variety" and another to say "The way that you have just told me you speak the language sounds infantile and you should correct it."

Moreover, in case it wasn't obvious from the absurd hyperbole (or do you really think I'd actually destroy my inner ear to avoid hearing to a particular variety?), I was joking when I made that statement. You, by contrast, sound dead serious. That's part of what I mean about context. Even Saxons will make self-deprecating remarks about the way they talk. There's a tradition of Germans mocking each others' way of speaking. They know, for instance, that the easiest way to wind up a speaker of a Lower Alemannic dialect like me is to call it "Swabian". It's all meant in fun. If there's any fun in your statements above, it's escaped me entirely.

You aren't a native of Pittsburgh, are you? But wherever you're from they must be deadly literalists.