Cell-phone fiascoes

Sunday News

Jul 05, 2009 00:06 EST

By STEPHEN KOPFINGER, Staff Writer

What would we do without our cellular phones?

Those chirping, ringing, little pieces of technology have become so ubiquitous we have literally become attached to them.

Until we drop one down the toilet. Or run over it with a car or lawn mower. Or, in the case Barbara Hough Roda, managing editor here at the Sunday News, accidentally microwave one that has fallen into a tub of popcorn.

We asked readers to submit stories about their own cell-phone mishaps, and we received many responses, covering everything from work-related phone disasters to, well … you'll just have to read them!

In addition to the stories that follow, others written by Amy Sherman, Akron; Missy Reed, Carol Dittoe and Carl G. Melin, all of Lancaster; Ron Malec and Shirley Wimer, both of Lititz; Marcene Becker, Manheim; Kay Gibbs, New Holland; and Chris Hoover, Stevens, appear on the Lancaster Newspapers Inc. Web site, http://lancasteronline.com; so be sure to read them, as well!

Wedding trasher
My cell phone got thrown in the garbage at my wedding reception. While my new husband and I were mingling, the tables were being cleared. I went back and couldn't find my phone, frantic because we were leaving for our honeymoon the next morning. I borrowed someone's cell phone to see if I could hear my phone ringing. Here I am in a wedding dress digging through trash for my phone!!! Sure enough, we heard it and saw the light flashing inside one of the garbage bags. I was so relieved.

— Amanda Killinger, Lancaster

Fluid condition
We have had many cell-phone issues in our home — from children ruining them from their slobber, to phones falling into the toilet. ... but probably the best story we have is when I was in labor with our second child.

I was trying to "relax" in the nice, warm water in the [birthing] tub at Women & Babies [Hospital], and my very supportive husband was right by my side to hold my hand and to try to comfort me.

He was so close, in fact, that his cell phone fell right into the tub with me.

After our daughter was born, my husband went to see if he could get the phone replaced since we had insurance on it. I wish I could have seen the look on the salesperson's face when my husband asked them if damage from amniotic fluid was covered! Unfortunately, it was not and we ended up having to buy a new phone.

— Alisan and Luke Billman, Lancaster

Into the drink
•My wife and I were on vacation in Outer Banks, N.C., with her family. The two of us were taking a walk along the beach when I happened to look down and saw a yellow and black cell phone being taken out with a wave toward the ocean. For a split second it didn't register that it was my phone I was seeing in the water. I was able to retrieve it; unfortunately, after drying out the SIM card and setting the phone out in the warm sun to dry, the phone's screen was damaged and it would not take a charge. I had to use my father-in-law's phone the rest of the week.

 — Stan Slote, New Holland

• We were vacationing in Florida. I was at our host's swimming pool in the backyard. My husband decided to join me. He walked into the pool and was swimming when he discovered his cell phone was in his pocket!! The phone was as dead as a doornail. That evening we went to a provider's store and he informed us he could not help us because our connection was in Pennsylvania. But he told us to take the phone apart and lay it in the hot Florida sun for a few days. We did it. It worked!! We were thankful.

 So now ... I had a problem. My cell phone dropped from my jeans pocket into the toilet. I retrieved it in seconds. But it was dead. I took it apart. I used a hair dryer 'til my hand got so hot I could not hold it any longer. Still dead. I propped the phone in front of our heat/air duct. The next day. I tried it and it worked!! How grateful I am that they both work after their swims. They are both old, but I do not like change.

— Pearl Lapp, Kinzers

Agrarian accidents
I have three stories about cell-phone accidents. First, I must tell you that I am a grain dealer and in the pursuit of my occupation, I get to climb high structures and get into grain bins routinely.

No. 1: One day I was climbing a "bucket elevator" and, about 50 feet off the ground, I leaned over and my cell phone slipped from my shirt pocket and fell onto the roof of a grain bin and then bounced to the ground. The battery broke loose from the phone when it hit the ground. I had to tape the pieces together. ... but it worked just fine.

No. 2: One day, I was in a grain bin and I realized my phone was missing. It had fallen out of my pocket into the grain. It was carried out of the bin in an ... auger, lifted up a 100-foot bucket elevator and slid down a downspout onto the truck. I dialed the phone to check if I could hear it on the truck. No can do. I delivered the load of corn to a farm and covered the auger that I was unloading it into with a piece of screen. I was able to retrieve the phone and it worked just fine.

No. 3: The final incident occurred as I was looking down into one of my receiving pits (where we unload grain from the trucks) to see if there was any water that had not drained out. Again, my phone slipped from my shirt pocket and landed in the bottom of the pit. Yes, there was water there. ... and, no, the phone did not survive this time.

— R. Keith Vogt, Marietta

Driving disasters
I jockey trailers around the yard at my place of employment. I bring the trailers around and we load skids of material. While I was doing this one afternoon, I was jumping in and out of the trailers like normal, but on this day I had my cell phone in my pocket for some reason.

Well, I didn't realize it, but my cell phone had fallen out of my pocket. I didn't notice my phone was missing until I was done and getting ready for lunch. I started to retrace my steps but could not locate my cell. After looking everywhere I could think of, I went outside into the parking lot and, lo and behold, there is my cell phone. Problem was it wasn't the way I left it; it had fallen out and opened up face-down; and, lucky me, [I] drove over it with the 18-wheeler. Heck, I don't even know how many times I ran over it, but it was not pretty-looking. The only thing I thought was funny, was that it still worked. LOL.

 — Jason Bootie, Columbia

Real washouts
• I was doing my laundry and took a load from the washing machine and put it into the dryer. I turned the dryer on and walked away. As I was leaving, I heard this horrible clunking noise. As I turned around to investigate the cause of the noise, it hit me — I had left my cell phone in my pants pocket and it had just been washed and was now being dried. I opened the dryer and frantically dug through all of the clothes until I found the phone. It was dead. I took out the battery and put it back in. This time the phone turned on. The next day, I took the phone to the dealer and we discovered that only some of the keys were working. I ended up having to buy a new phone; $120 later I had a new phone that I still don't particularly like.

 — Jennifer S. Rounds, Manheim

• I was painting inside my house. I had my cell phone in the side pocket of my shorts. When I finished, it was about 11:30 p.m. I took my clothes down to the laundry room and threw them in the washer. I showered and went to bed. The next morning, I looked for my cell phone. I couldn't find it. Suddenly, it hit me!!! I ran to the laundry room to find my cell phone — clean as new! But, of course, completely dead. That was in October of 2008.

In May 2009, I was outside working in the yard. I had to go to work, so I finished and took my clothes and tossed them in the washer. I went up to get ready for work. Bam. ... my cell phone. I dashed to the laundry room and grabbed my shorts. My phone was submerged. My son had told me he read on the Internet that if your phone gets soaked, put it in the freezer. I wasn't sure about this, but what could it hurt? I put it in the freezer. Two days later, I got it out. I used a hair dryer and thawed it. It turned on! I took the battery out and put the phone and battery on the counter. I left it there for about seven-10 days. I put the battery back in and turned it on. It took some time, but it came back on. The screen was darker than normal for about another two weeks. But, now it is working fine.

Needless to say, I don't use the side pocket on my shorts anymore!

 — Ken Barton, Lancaster

• Well, I was looking for my cell phone and could not find it. I called my number and my washing machine rang — once, and then silence. I opened the lid and pushed through the wet clothes to my jeans and, yes, there was the phone.

I brought it out and placed it on the kitchen counter. Nothing. No display, no sound — it was dead. I called the company and they suggested that now I needed a new phone. Not totally convinced, I took the battery out of the back, removed the SIM card and used the hair dryer on the components and the phone itself. I left it out for a couple of hours, put it back together and turned it on. At first, just sound, no display — so no way to know what numbers were being dialed, etc. I made plans to go get a new phone; at the end of the driveway I thought, "let me just try one more time." Lo and behold, the phone worked great. Display, numbers, sounds, options — everything works just great. That was several months ago and it is still working. And I have a clean phone!

— Nancy Chapman, Akron

Death knells
• IT COMMITTED SUICIDE!!

We had always kept the cell phone on ... the shelf above the kitchen sink. I had put the phone in the vibrating mode while attending a meeting and when I arrived home I placed the cell phone in its usual place. ... During the afternoon, my husband and I heard a noise in the kitchen; I investigated but couldn't find anything amiss. Late afternoon, I went to the kitchen again to begin preparing supper and found the cell phone in a bowl of water in the kitchen sink. It had vibrated off the shelf and landed in the bowl of water ... dead. All attempts at resuscitation failed.

— Mary C. Wickenheiser, Columbia

• My cell-phone story begins on a winter night. I was sitting in the recliner when my cell phone fell out of my pocket. Soon after that, my mom called me on the house phone and told me to start a fire in the wood stove we have in our living room. I started crumbling up all of the paper and dropping it on the recliner seat. I then scooped up all of the paper, including my phone, and threw it in the stove. I continued to stack wood on and finally lit the fire. I didn't realize anything was wrong until after dinner I couldn't find my phone. I searched my house twice for it and still no luck in finding it.

The fire even made a loud "pop" at one point and my mom suggested that is where I lost my phone. I was not going to believe that so I didn't think anything of it. That night after the fire went out, I was going to prove my mom wrong and look in the ashes, only to find the scraps of my phone. The metal was all that was left. That is how I accidentally cremated my phone.

— Nate Mentzer, 16, Lampeter

• My 13-year-old niece, Stephanie, has had a few adventures with cell phones:

The first one fell off of her lap into a parking lot as she was going into a pizza place for dinner. She didn't realize it, and when she came back to the parking lot, her cell phone had been run over by a car.

Cell Phone No. 2: Stephanie and my daughter were goofing around at the edge of the ocean. Something came floating by... it was Stephanie's cell phone, which had fallen out of her pocket.

Cell Phone No. 3: Stephanie was by the pool at a friend's house. Her cell phone was in her pocket again. A friend pushed her into the pool and that was the end of Cell Phone No. 3.

I told my sister that it was a good thing they purchased insurance on Stephanie's cell phones, only to have her tell me that Stephanie is no longer eligible for phone insurance.

— Laura T. Perry, Lancaster


And there's more!
Here are some more cell-phone stories submitted by Sunday News readers:

• My church youth group rakes leaves as a service project. One year my phone fell out of my sweatshirt pocket and I raked it into one of 30 leaf bags. We tried calling it and listening to the bags, but no luck.  The next day, my dad, a friend and I went through all the bags and we found it.  It didn't work; but, after two days drying in the oven at 100 degrees, it worked again!

— Amy Sherman, Akron

• While mowing the lawn on the riding mower, it fell out of my pocket and I ran over it. Only a few scratches.

— Missy Reed, Lancaster

• I had two incidents with my cell phone within a month.

First ... I was riding in a golf cart with my hands full of things, including my phone and digital camera in a case, when I had to step out for a moment.

When I returned to the cart, I inadvertently dropped the case, but did not realize it until I heard the crunch of the items inside as the cart rode over it! The camera was salvageable; the phone was not. I had the phone replaced; and then the following month I dropped it on a cement floor, cracking the view screen. Again, it was not repairable and I received my third phone in two months!

— Carol Dittoe, Lancaster

• I took the cell phone into the bathroom. ... After shaving and while leaving the shower, I slipped on the bottom of the tub, barely managing to regain my balance by desperately reaching out and grasping the top of the commode water tank. After toweling off and dressing, ... I reached for the shaving kit and phone ... but the phone was nowhere in sight! I looked on and in the clothes hamper, checked the shaving kit, bathrobe pockets ... all to no avail. Only upon removing the top of the water tank was the phone visible on the bottom! Evidently I had placed it on the slightly rounded porcelain cover, which had tipped when I was catching my balance, depositing the phone into its watery grave. ... This incident occurred in Hong Kong.

— Carl G. Melin, Lancaster

• I am a rarity, I'm sure, and a person who is not constantly tied to his cell phone. ... so I often will lose track of where I put it last, which was the case last year.  

I had been away on a short weekend business trip and after a few days was looking for it, wondering where I had it last, but couldn't find it ... oh well, it will turn up somewhere ... About a week later, I threw the dirty clothes from my trip in the wash, and then the dryer. As I'm sitting watching TV, I begin to hear a loud "thumpity-thump" coming from the basement and realize it's something in the dryer; I assumed it was a pair of my wife's sneakers that was among the laundry.

When the dryer stopped, I emptied the contents and began sorting the clothes and felt a lump in the pocket of a pair of shorts and it was my missing cell phone, now fully WASHED and DRIED. I tried to power it up, but it was, of course, dead.  Just for the heck of it, I opened the casing and removed the battery, SIM card and the metal covering over the circuit board and, taking a hair dryer, blew it out for about 10 minutes.  

I then reassembled everything, pushed the power button and it sprang back to life!  The only effect from its ordeal was a horizontal black line through the display.  It remained fully functional until about two months ago when it began losing pixels from the display screen.  I went to the service center where I had originally purchased it to get a new phone and told the sales staff the story and they couldn't believe it.  I now have a shiny new phone, but it STILL is not the center of my life.

— Ron Malec, Lititz

• I ran over my cell phone ... with a rider lawn mower. It looks like a thousand silver rice puffs in my back yard. Oh well ...

— Shirley Wimer, Lititz

• My grandson, forgetting he last laid his cell phone on his car, proceeded to drive over it. He also dropped one in the creek while fishing.

— Marcene Becker, Manheim

• Here is my story: It was a lovely summer morning.

My then-18-month-old son Joshua, now 7, took our cell and thought it needed a bath or something.

While I was in the kitchen, my son put my phone into my large cup of iced tea. When returning, he was holding my phone dripping wet and sticky. He looked at me as if to say "what?"

Oh, yeah, we got a new one.

 — Kay Gibbs, New Holland

• My husband, Warren, was in our corn silo working on the unloader and dropped it in and it went through the unloader and we found the mangled battery and parts of the main component; the only thing reusable was the antenna. I guess the steers enjoyed the back of the phone.

 — Chris Hoover, Stevens