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Dad has an LG flip phone through TracFone. He's never wanted a smartphone and TBH, he doesn't really need one (and when he does, he can use mine). When he first got his phone about a year ago, he was unable to set up his voicemail. I tried to do it for him and I too was unsuccessful. Since Dad really doesn't want to be reached, he let this slide.

Back at the beginning of February, Dad had an appointment with his cardiologist (spoiler alert: all went very well and Dad's fine). He had blood work done and the doctor's office called him with the results (Dad hadn't set up a "MyChart"--his medical provider's online portal for tracking all things related to his health and medical history--but that's another story) but Dad didn't hear the phone in time to answer. And of course the doctor's office couldn't leave a message. All in all, it took three tries on three different days before Dad and the doctor's office finally connected. And suddenly Dad wanted voicemail.

So I took a second crack at it. This time, I didn't have a problem figuring out how to set up Dad's voicemail. Thank you Google--I couldn't have figured it out without you! (it wasn't as obvious as it should've been). After first ascertaining that I wanted to continue in English, I was asked to set up a password. So I did so without consulting Dad (I wrote it down for him). Here's where it gets funny...the next step was to have Dad say his name, but when I handed him the phone, he said "what?" and I stage-whispered "say your first and last name!" so he did so. And that's now how his voicemail is identified...not just as <Wahoo Daddy First and Last Name>. Then the system asked to set up a message but now *I* was a little flustered. I'd thought I'd asked to redo the previous step so this time BEFORE I handed him the phone, I told him to just say his first and last name. Which he did, with a hint of exasperation. Oops...the system was asking to record a message. After he said his full name the second time, I tried calling him and told him don't answer, just let me see if I could leave a message. After the phone rang a bunch of times, it did indeed go to voicemail. But instead of a robotic voice saying something like "you've reached <Dad's name, said in his voice>, please leave a message", all I heard was "<Wahoo Daddy's first and last name>" in an exasperated tone.

The message is, of course, changeable...but I suspect Dad will leave it because a) he can't be bothered and b) it sounds a little intimidating, which I'm sure he appreciates <g>.