Secrets of a mobile phone

This morning, I received an email from my phone carrier with the following directions with an unlock code:

1. Press #
2. Press * three times = P
3. Press * four times = W
4. Press * twice = +
5. Enter the unlock code
6. Press * twice = +
7. Press 1, then # and the display should read "SIM Restriction Off"

I had requested to unlock my mobile phone in preparation for going abroad this summer for vacation and an internship in Bangkok working on flu pandemic preparedness with the national office of a large nongovernmental organization.

Despite the fact I was expecting this message, it was surprising that all I had to do was press a sequence of digits to enable my phone to be used around the world, and I was a little giddy to be one step closer to the summer globe-trotting adventures.