How (not) to save a drowning cell phone

Last night I was cleaning the bathroom when my Dad called. Just as I was able to explain that I couldn’t talk at the moment and would call back, the phone fell out from under my neck and into the toilet full of chemicals and whatever the chemicals were trying to remove. Yuck!

The odd thing was, it still worked. My first thoughts were that the chemicals would melt the thing, not to mention the fact that I wouldn’t want my mouth or ear anywhere near something that had fallen in the toilet, so I shut it off and rinsed it thoroughly. Then I ran downstairs to find information on what to do next. I love the internet. But you know taking advice from an internet site isn’t always.. well, advisable. The site I found on repairing cell phone water damage confirmed that I was right to rinse it, but added that I should have removed the battery first. So I did that. Rinse the parts — I’d already rinsed them thoroughly, trust me, so we carefully dried each piece and tested the phone. Still good. Then I went on to the step of blow-drying everything, on low. This time when I put the phone back together, I got nothing.

Soooo I called Sprint, who informed me that they could give me $75 off a $150 phone if I signed up for a new plan. This is my parents phone they couldn’t use. They’re on the last six months of the last two year plan! Hello!! So I hopped on ebay, and searched for buy-it-now, nokia / sprint phone within 20 miles of my home. Thank goodness the seller understood my plight and actually hand-delivered it this afternoon. Thank you Moises!

The rest of my life lately has been every bit as wacky as the last four paragraphs, but, I’ll have to write on that later. Coming soon: Star Trek was Right — The Future of Pajamas At Work!