Recently, a fantastic discovery came to my attention.

It is a discovery that takes the basic invention of Alexander Graham Bell as well as the device of some unknown inventor (at least unknown to me) and rides the rip-chord of H.G. Wells’ imagination.

Telephone voice mail is a time machine.

OK, voice mail is sort of a time machine.

All right, it’s not a time machine, but I think voice mail is the closest thing we have to such a device.

Let me explain.

Recently, before taking a week off work, I changed my work voice-mail message to let callers know that I would be out of the office for several days.

After changing my message, I called the number and my extension to be certain the recording sounded OK.

Of course, it sounded like I sound on tape, which means it doesn’t sound OK.

My voice sounds like a goon mumbling in a barrel probably because I usually feel like a goon mumbling into a phone whenever I have to record one of these messages.

So, since I was listening to my voice, I decided to leave myself a little message. A reminder about something I needed to do when I returned to work.

I had effectively sent my voice of Friday, March 27, 10 days into the future of Monday, April 6.

And sure enough, upon returning to work on Monday, April 6, there was my 10-day younger voice from the past, which had been the present then, here in the future, which was the present now.

My past self reminded my current self of the thing that needed doing here in the future-present.

Thus, with the help of voice mail, my voice had effectively transcended the boundaries of time and space. …

OK, I’ve been on vacation. What else was I supposed to write a column about, two days ago on Monday, April 6, though you’re reading this probably on Wednesday, April 8, or some other later date?

Hey, the newspaper’s a time machine, too.

Dean Poling is The Valdosta Daily Times assistant managing editor.