A miracle (sort of)

OK it's not on the same level as the parting of the Red Sea. But still it's impressive. Recall in my previous post I was mourning my ten year old (I'm not kidding) cell phone. This poor phone has endured more abuse in ten years than almost any modern electronic device, and yet it never died. I have kicked it, stepped on it, sat on it (multiple times) and dropped it more times than I can count. But like the rabbit in the battery commercial, it just kept going and going and going, battered but functional. It was so abused and resilient that I have refused to part with it despite the fact that I could easily have upgraded to a newer phone any time. Another reason I chose not to upgrade is because of the fragility of most newer phones where if you look at them wrong or speak too loudly into them, they break.

Then came yesterday. It was in the middle 90's and I was a tad on the warm side. So I decided to cool off with a nice relaxing swim. Off I went to the pool with keys, towel and phone which when fumbling everything in my hands, I decided to stuff into the pocket of my swim trunks. So I get to the pool, deposit the keys and towel on the lounge chair, walk to the edge of the pool and dive in.

AHHHH... it felt so good and pleasantly refreshing. I started swimming some laps and had been for at it for no more than 5 minutes when I suddenly felt a distinct vibration against my right leg that was alarmingly familiar...

OH NO!!!

This being a Christian blog, I will refrain from directly quoting what came out of my mouth next as I broke the olympic speed record in reaching the edge of the pool and pulled myself out. Quickly I whipped out my phone just in time to see the words "Good Bye" fading from its external screen (already cracked from being dropped). Frantically I hit the power button.

Nothing.

I started to shake the phone. Water came out of the hole used for head phones. I looked at the interior screen and could see water sloshing around and a sort of crystal white out forming on the screen. It rapidly expanded until it completely blotted the screen.

This I realized was very likely the end.

I removed the battery, opened the phone up and set it down in the blistering sun. Resigned that there was nothing more I could do, I went back into the pool, no longer enjoying it, and finished swimming laps for another twenty minutes or so. Then I gathered everything up and went home. I put the open phone on the ledge of the fence where it would get as much sun as possible in the rather dim hope it would dry out. After which I started considering what I would get for a replacement.

Fast forward to today. Late afternoon rolls around and I decide to try charging the battery by itself. To my surprise it seemed to take the charge. Then I went to took at my phone on the fence ledge. The screen was a giant sheet of white water crystal.

Sigh.

I start banging the phone in my hand and I can feel water dribbling out of cracks and some of the water crystals start to fade a bit. After a bit more banging I decided that it was time to get it over with, grabbed the battery, popped it in and hit the power button. And then...

IT WORKED!

The power came on and I could see the interior screen, albeit slightly obscured by water. The outside screen also illuminated, but nothing showed up. No welcome or time. So I tried checking my phone lists on the inside screen. They showed up. Then I called a friend. And the call went through. Still a blank on the outside screen. But the phone is functional. OK. So I am gonna have to buy a watch to tell time. Big deal. Unbelievably this, the most abused phone in N. America, has yet again survived.

When I die I am willing it to the Smithsonian.