Hallie was looking at the answering machine and noticed that there was a blinking number one, meaning a new message. I listened to the message and the number reverted to how many saved messages we had, 8.

Distressed Hallie groans. “Oh no, there’s 8 messages again. It’s a pattern!”

She’s right. There is a pattern. People call and leave messages. I leave them on the answering machine forever and then listen to them. It’s a pattern.