The problem is, it's a minor miracle made mundane by the advancement of time. If I stick my watch in a drawer, I expect it will still be working when I pull it out next week.

I checked my email while waiting for a bus yesterday, and it didn't occur to me until just now how much more explanation that task would have required in a story set in the 1980s.

In the end, you were just more diligent of a writer than we were readers.