Last week our answering machine stopped recording messages. I whined on Facebook, “Couldn’t you have lasted 9 more days?” We have received an average of 5 political calls each day and I have already voted!

I unplugged it to see if it would reset. There were no saved messages and it still did not record.

My husband picked up a new one. As I was preparing to hook it up, I noticed one of the wires was unplugged. We both had missed it! I plugged it back in and it worked fine.

I was so relieved. Our message was recorded by college boy several years ago before his voice changed. He hates it; we treasure it. He was hoping we would have to replace it.

Don’t replace items until you have read the papers that came with it and checked everything twice. It may need something simple.

And don’t forget to vote!

Our answering machine.