Phones and Water Don't Mix

About eight months ago, when Nathan and I were holidaying in Adelaide and having a wonderful time, we ventured into a shopping complex and as I'd been thinking about it for some time, I decided to buy a new phone and go on a plan, not prepaid. The Samsung Galaxy took some getting used to. I liked my old LG phone and in the time it took me to figure out how to send a message from the new phone to the friends we were going to have lunch with the next day, Nathan ate my vanilla slice. The Galaxy came in handy when my camera started acting up and we used it to take photos as we toured Kangaroo Island. Soon after we got back, I put the LG phone away thinking I would never need it again.

As the months wore on, that ol' LG got forgotten. I used my Galaxy for Facebook, apps, camera, text messaging and phone calls. I learnt how to do 'selfies' and take photos of my friends and I, even having the phone "tell" people where we were. I used it as a GPS when I was trying to find a place in the Blue Mountains that wasn't on the GPS in my car. It was so much fun and so useful that unbeknowingly the Galaxy was becoming an integral part of my life that I couldn't do without.

Yesterday, I was so pleased to get to the beach as I hadn't been there for a couple  of months. The first thing I did was take the Galaxy out of my pocket, take a photo of the beach and upload it to Facebook - to make my friends envious. I had my camera with me so put the phone away and used the camera for the other photos. As I walked around the beach with a friend, the water came up to our knees and on the other side of us was a wall. A wave came, knocking us up against the wall and splashing water up to my hips and my phone got wet. I didn't notice because I was too busy enjoying the company and taking photos. Later, I wondered how much time had passed and checked the time on my phone and that's when I discovered it wasn't working. It didn't seem too wet so we tried drying it with a towel but I was advised to put it in rice when I got home.

This morning I took it out of the rice, put it back together and it seemed to be working - except for the SIM card. I drove into town and told the Optus (phone service provider) rep what had happened. She suggested I take the phone home and put it back on rice for another 24 hours and assured me that the SIM card will not be affected by the water and will still work. On the way home, I figured out where I had unpacked and put my phone so I got it out and recharged it. At first, all the new phone numbers did not show up so I changed the settings and most were there. I flicked through the photos on the LG phone and memories of Dave and I came flooding back, not that he's ever very far from my mind. There were photos of him and I with his granddaughter Abigail, photos of our horses, the snow, Christmas day and photos of a hike we went on together exploring at a place we saw a rattlesnake. (The first and only time I saw one.)

Anyway, I called a couple people on the LG phone and messaged a few and then wondered if people were too busy to answer or if the SIM card was damaged. Anyway, I sent out another email and a friend messaged me. I also called my home phone and then used my landline to call my mobile to make sure I could make and receive calls. I miss my Samsung Galaxy. I used to be so proud of my LG now it just seems so slow and hard to use. I can access Facebook on it (I think) but at least I will still be able to send and receive calls until the Samsung works again. If the rice doesn't work, I have to send it back in and it can take up to 2 weeks to get it repaired or returned.

You know, I never realised how dependent I had become on my phone. Even when I was driving home last night, I kept wanting to check my phone - something I don't do when I am driving. Then I was wondering what would happen if I broke down and had no phone to call anyone and tried to reassure myself that my car had just been serviced so that was an unlikely scenario. Oh well, As one of my friend's would say "First world problems."