How Things Work, or DON'T

My friend Raja is taking a physics course called "How Things Work." I would like to take a course in how Verizon works. Since I moved most of my phone calls come in on my cell phone. So I usually keep it near me. This morning I noticed that I had a new message. I never heard the phone ring, but this wouldn't be the first time it happened. To my amazement the message was one I had left on a friend's cell phone on December 2o while I was in New York. I was canceling a date because of the transit strike. When I finally saw her three days later I had a strong suspicion she had never received the message, but it didn't seem important. Now I would like to know where the message was for a month and how did it get delivered back to me. I keep looking at these ads that offer cell phones that do everything but cook for you. I would just like one that functioned properly as a telephone. Verizon, can you hear me?