That's okay, I'm accustomed to OCD-levels of indignant demands for detail --- I work in scientific programming. :-)

He was demonstrating how a pager worked (by phoning his own pager with my cell phone, entering the phone number after the beep, etc.), presumably so that the next time he wandered away for a few hours I could leave angry digits on his pager display.

As to why, I wish I knew. Personally, I would have rather spent those fifteen minutes back in the room with my wife to help with her pelvis-shattering contractions. It would have been nice if the doctor could also. :-P

Sorry, wasn't being very clear. What I heard upon phoning the pager number was a ring followed by a beep. There was no indication (such as, say, a recorded message) that I was supposed to enter a phone number (followed by the hash sign).

Not a particularly interesting story, perhaps, but on topic and true :-)

I had not realized that I've never actually had to call someone's pager before until my wife went into labor at three in the morning and I had to call the ob-gyn. The pager rang once and then beep! Silence. I'm confused, rattled, sleep deprived; I leave a message (words that will never find human ears) and phone the hospital. Get the switchboard operator to track the guy down.

While my wife's in labor, the ob-gyn actually has the whatsit to pull me aside and spend a solid fifteen minutes showing me how to work a pager. :-/

Incidentally, most of the physicians I work with have iPhones.