Background Item #1:  I am part of our company's emergency warning system in which if there is an emergency I have to call all of our visitors (20-40) in the hotels and advise them of the emergency.  As such, that requires me to carry a handphone 24/7 and never turn it off.  Plus, I have to carry all the phone numbers for those folks.

Background Item #2:  There is a scam process going on here where somebody calls a spouse and advises of a serious accident regarding the other spouse.  Then there is a request for an immediate transfer of money to a bank account to help pay the medical bills (hospital bills are usually paid in advance).  This is getting so sophisticated that often the allegedly injured spouse also gets a phone call being told not to use his/her phone ... and/or the phone company (inside job) starts blocking all calls.

*** Because of Item #2 ... Decy and I have purchased an inexpensive set of "emergency hand phones" ... if something happens and we get sucked into a scam and our phones are blocked .... we will have the "private" numbers that we can still reach each other with (clearly these numbers are private only if we don't share them with others).

*** Now, move to today.  I am trying to call Decy with my handphone ... cannot ... I am trying to SMS her .... cannot ... Finally a computerized message tells me my phone is blocked (5pm on Friday).  I call Decy from the office phone.  Decy quickly calls the "custodian" of my hand phone ... "oh ... sorry, maybe the bill hasn't been paid".

Bill ? What bill?  I've never seen a bill?  You mean the company doesn't pay it?  .... and, obviously, it being Friday evening and everybody being gone ... it is impossible to find the telephone bill, much less pay it.

*** Fast forward, ok ... start talking to folks in the office ... start communicating with them that I will not be able to call from my company handphone ... but can receive calls (at least that way if any of the 20-40 guys need to call me they can).  BUT, if there is an emergency, and I can't call them ... the guys are clueless.  Ok ... got it ... I can use my personal backup phone ... that's fine but I only have $3 worth of pre-paid on it .... hadn't gotten it fully activated and "charged up" ... quick call to Decy ... Decy calls sister Dolly (who sells pre-paid cards) .... 10 minutes later my backup phone is beeping me telling me that it has been "topped up" .... thank God for family and friends .... and people who can do something ... and do it well ...

Back to the present ... the company clearly has an issue if such a critical phone (such as mine) can go dead without warning.  Thank God I have a back up phone .... and thank God, HE was pressing Decy and I to get the backup phones and quickly ... I received mine just last night ... and the company phone "went dead" less that 12 hours later.

... as you can appreciate, with a "dead phone" not only would the 20-40 visitors been at risk ... but so would I ... because if I, personally, had an emergency, I could not have reached anybody .....  HE watches over even the sparrow.

ciao ciao ....