Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Ring, ring. Hello?

There's no fooling a sweet, honest, greesy-haired techie who's just diagnosed your ailing cell phone. You might as well try telling a 40-year-cop-turned-neuro-psychologist that you've never had lustful thoughts or acted upon them.

"Well, your phone's circuits have been fried, and it appears that someone has tampered with your cell phone. Are you sure it hasn't been exposed to a city-block-sized vat of sticky, citrus consistency-based beverage, as well as some evil-intentioned intruder who tried to mop it up?"

Me: "Uh...er... perhaps a tiny droplet of... er orange juice... uh... dropped within its reach...and, er.. maybe someone very similar to myself in appearance slipped in through the open screen window downstairs to try and dry it out... ah, man! I've divulged too much!"

"Well...," (dramatic flat-lining image drowns out all WiFi connections in a 3 block radius) "there's nothing I can do for it now. Please see the Salesman for an absurdly over-priced new phone, or consult eBay and Craigslist for a better deal."

And away the all-knowlegeable, late-teen doctor goes...

Luckily, I'm still feeling happy today.

I mean..., it's hard to feel down when you've spent the week doing awesome things like visiting Seattle's Coolest Science Museum (the best fun, interactive displays and exhibits ever!), The Inner-Geek-Invoking Science Fiction Museum (c'mon, am I the only one who grew up loving Bradbury, Ursela K. LeGuin, Heinlein, Douglas Adams, Harlan Ellison, Orwell, Arthur C. Clark, Shelly, & Jules Verne??!) , Summerfest (if your boyfriend's an artist, never take him to an art fair unless you're ready to spend hours reading and writing about Chaos and Funny Feynman while he sketches and creates...) as well as lots of coffee shops, used-book stores, and a couple of job interviews. Overall..., very good stuff!

I'm loving Seattle!

P.S. Anyone have an old cell phone with a verizon serial number they want to toss my way?

9 comments:

Frustrated Writer said...

Seattle sounds fun! I am a cingular man myself so I can't help you with the cellphone. The museums definitely sound great and coffee in Seattle... it would be like a pilgrimage to Mecca.

dingobear said...

Happy to hear you're taking in all of the great sites and loving it in Seattle, -c.

R. said...

i have dipped a cellphone (siemens) in water once...conked off....I had another one (nokia) bathed in hot tea...it worked just fine actually once it was cleaned with a wet rag and then blow dried. These two scientific experiments urge me to suggest that you should choose nokia (though I am not accepting any liability arising out of my 'informed' advise at this point in time)

dingobear said...

By the way -c, how's the job search coming along? Those books you referred to (the Feynman autobiography and Chaos) look kind of interesting, do you recommend them?

L said...

you are definitely not the only one who loves those sci fi writers :)

Anonymous said...

I'd toss you my cell phone, -c, but with my throwing arm it would probably miss and take out a small child. I just could not handle the legal expenses if this were to happen.

-c said...

frustrated- How do they feel about excessive caffein in Mecca?

dingobear- job search is going well; there are plenty of jobs in my field, but all low paying. Why do the social and intellectual sculptors of our children need three meals a day, anyway? And re: the books: I think Feynmann is hilarious. The bio's extremely rambly and arbitrary-thoughts -and-memories-of-a-scientisty, but very fun to read. As for CHAOS, I'm moving slowely, still don't understand a bit of it, but am absolutely fascinated nonetheless!

rabin- Thanks for doing the research for me. I can stop writing those grant proposals for my study on phones and juice.

Cap'n rich- Every good piece of electronic equiptment needs a good bath every once in a while:)

l- Phew! Not the only geek out there..

philbrick- I understand your very valid, legal fears. Thanks for considering the throw anyway.

Winston said...

Um...I say this with some trepidation but -c is totally lying! I have no proof of said lies but I bet her cell phone is just fine. She just doesn't want to be obligated to it; thus this story.

It's ok -c! Have fun not talking on your cell phone.

Sometimes it scares me the percentage of people I see talking on their cell phones EVERYWHERE...is there something to be worried about here or am I the reincarnation of the guy who said TV and radio were tools of the devil and to beware?
Whatever.

-c said...

dunzo- As stupid as it may sound, I really DID toss my phone into some oj. No lie. I just wish verizon didn't want my grandma's savings for a new one...

and, yeah, I still don't like them either. It makes everyone feel more disattached- even when we're sitting right next to each other!