Why do Gadgets stop working at the most inopportune times

Either when you need it most, or when the replacement is on the way, but you need it to just limp along for a couple of more days

.
Or both



My Phone just conked out completely, just before our New Year and the replacement while ordered a week ago is not arriving for a few days.
Now I have over 60 SMS's from friends which I Can't identify let alone answer as I don't have their Numbers stored on the el cheapo phone I keep around to use with my other SIM.
So I'm going to have to compare the numbers from each message with my contacts in outlook to find out who sent it (as I have a completely crap memory for numbers. took me a year to remember my own

)before I can reply.