cleolinda: (GALADRIEL SMASH!)
cleolinda ([personal profile] cleolinda) wrote2009-08-20 05:40 am

True story

Guys, my mother just found my phone in the washing machine. I washed my phone. I have no phone because I washed it.

Reader, I confess, I started laughing really hard. She looked like she wanted to throttle me.



ETA: I've told you how we bought the Geek Squad contract and my mother's so in love with the concept of the Geek Squad and how they will come fix everything and Make It All Better? Finally I said, look, just CALL THEM, whatever, I just washed MY PHONE, I DON'T CARE. So while she does that, I check my email, I read the news, I finally read the Best Buy: Geek Squad Gouges article at The Consumerist. Not FIVE MINUTES LATER, she storms in and announces that the Geek Squad 1) can't get here until August 31st which is 2) the same day as my dentist appointment (I started laughing hysterically at that point, just because: COME ON NOW, REALLY) and 3) they want to charge us $145 to come out and, essentially, look at the thing and maybe load Microsoft Office. "I THOUGHT THAT THE POINT OF THE CONTRACT WAS FOR THEM TO COME OUT AND FIX THINGS BECAUSE WE HAD ALREADY PAID THEM WHAT IS THIS WHY DID WE EVEN GIVE THEM ANY MONEY IN THE FIRST PLACE WHAT IS EVEN THE POINT OF THE CONTRACT??????????" she capslocked.

Apparently as the call was ending, whoever she was talking to asked if she had received good customer service. My mother paused for a long, long time. "You were very nice to me on the phone," she said finally.



ETA: Y'ALL, MY MOTHER'S CAR IS DEAD. She went out to the garage just now and it was just cold as a stone. Wouldn't even make a noise. "It's either the battery or the alternator," she said. But she doesn't know WHY--she didn't leave anything on to run it down. I couldn't stop laughing, in that "I have no other response left" way--well, I stopped when I realized she was near tears. "And I don't have Triple A anymore, because we couldn't afford it," she said. "I am just so tired. I am just so tired of life."

I'm afraid to stay in this house today, y'all. I don't know what's going to happen next.


Site Meter

[identity profile] katchin.livejournal.com 2009-08-20 09:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, you could think of it this way. Some people spread out their bad luck over a lifetime. It appears you are getting all of your bad luck out of the way in one lump over a couple of weeks.

[identity profile] glyphs.livejournal.com 2009-08-20 09:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Your house is officially cursed. I feel so awful for you and your family...I'd give you all hugs if I could. That Geek Squad crap is such a cf. I think y'all need to go back and raise some holy hell.

[identity profile] istoo.livejournal.com 2009-08-20 10:24 pm (UTC)(link)
I can see why you laughed at your mother's car, trying to start it and have nothing happen is something you're very familiar with.
Along with everyone else, I'm sorry that all this is happening to you and hope things get better soon.

[identity profile] robin-nibor.livejournal.com 2009-08-20 10:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Do you still have an old phone or charger, or maybe a friend has one? You should be able to switch to that and use it until your contract is up for renewal and you can get a cheaper phone.

Rice

[identity profile] weerdone.livejournal.com 2009-08-20 10:32 pm (UTC)(link)
I've seen a YouTube clip from Melissa Anelli where she dropped her Iphone in the toilet. She was told to put it into a bag of rice and leave overnight. Next day it was fine,don't know if it died a few days later but worth a try! And I think you're living in the Hellmouth!

[identity profile] r-h-r-d.livejournal.com 2009-08-20 10:44 pm (UTC)(link)
I, uh. Wow. That's...that's a lot of shit happening all at once.

I know you're opposed to it, but maybe a donation box wouldn't be such a bad idea? I mean--it just seems like y'all deserve something to go right, and a donation box might help with that.

You've said that you would much prefer an exchange-type thing, but at this point, with all of the shit that's happened, it might not be practical to wait for that opportunity. You could call it a payment in advance, if you like. I'm sure there's a way to work out a system so that people who donate could later be eligible to get whatever you want to offer--by way of code or password or something.

And I think all of us who frequent your journal would really like to help you out, and since we can't actually fiddle with the computer, or yell at the Geek Squad, or exorcise your house, pushing a couple bucks your way would be the next best thing.


Anyway, it is, of course, entirely up to you. If you decide you're too uncomfortable with that idea, I'm sure we'll all just continue sending as many good vibes your way as we can muster.

[identity profile] maramala.livejournal.com 2009-08-20 10:46 pm (UTC)(link)
[cue horror track]

[identity profile] runseattle-mod.livejournal.com 2009-08-20 11:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Cleo, I am absolutely one hundred percent sincere in this offer:

If you want, I will drive to Alabama and exorcise your house.

[identity profile] brandyllyn.livejournal.com 2009-08-20 11:30 pm (UTC)(link)
I *knew* I shouldn't be reading about your computer problems with mine fresh out of the box. I have to send my back to Dell to fix the fan which spontaneously overheated.

It's a bad month for computers

[identity profile] huushiita.livejournal.com 2009-08-21 12:06 am (UTC)(link)
Oh hunni I have no words.

*hugs uber tightly*

[identity profile] snapdragon76.livejournal.com 2009-08-21 12:35 am (UTC)(link)
Maybe fate is telling you to become a Luddite...


Seriously, this is all levels of wrong. I would've laughed too, or else go insane.

In all seriousness though, I certainly hope this glut of bad luck has ended for you.

instead of AAA...

[identity profile] firegatka007.livejournal.com 2009-08-21 06:55 am (UTC)(link)
Hey triple A can get pretty expensive but I realized recently that a lot of US cell phone providers offer a similar service to their customers for dirt cheap. For example we have ATT for cell phone service and they have a plan that offers nationwide car assistance (towing, jump starts, flat tire assistance, gas fill up etc) for an addition 2.99 a month to our regular plan. Its alot cheaper than triple A but has all the same services. My friends with other carriers have also found similar offers, hopefully this can help with the future :)

Your phone...

[identity profile] corbyjane.livejournal.com 2009-08-21 07:53 am (UTC)(link)
I am a serial-cellphone washer, (I'm on four and counting) and here's how you can resuscitate them (whether this will work in this instance or not depends on what you've done with your phone so far).

1. As soon as you discover the phone's drowned corpse in the washer, TURN IT OFF (if it's not already off). DO NOT TURN IT ON IF IT IS OFF (because the wetness and the batteryness will jack up the phone in a major way)

2. Take it apart (the battery, the SIM card). If it's beyond hope, you'll need the SIM anyway.

3. Place it in a warm location. I usually put mine on the heater vent, or on a shelf directly above the heater vent. Other places: a sunny window sill, the shelf above your dryer.

4. Leave it alone for 24 hrs min. so it can thoroughly dry... I think I've left all of mine for 72 hrs, normally.

5. Then try turning it on: hopefully it has survived.

The first phone I washed came back to life after this procedure. The second phone I washed, someone else thought they'd be a genius and turned it on for me, so after I dried it and everything, the keypad was dead. The phone still turns on, but none of the keys work, so all you can use it for is the time. The third and fourth washing episodes were the same phone, and it is still alive today (the battery is getting aged, but it's survived life with Corbyjane for two years, so that's not too shabby).

I'm sure someone already posted this, but anyway, that's my phone advice. Good luck!

[identity profile] krysalid.livejournal.com 2009-08-21 07:06 pm (UTC)(link)
I washed my phone while I was pregnant. And put it in the dryer too apparently. Despite my husband's insistence that the dryer was thumping oddly, I did not check. It came out of the dryer in pieces. I put them back together and took them to the phone store to get a new one, and I said, "I washed it and now it doesn't work. They should put a label on it that says dry clean only because, how are you supposed to know that the dryer is going to break into pieces?" but the girl at the phone store did not see the humor. At all.

[identity profile] neko-chan.livejournal.com 2009-08-22 01:34 am (UTC)(link)
Oh my god, girl.... I know I don't comment much, but big fan of the way you write (even/especially through crap) simply because you're so humanly witty about it. Just want to send a big box of internet hugs your way... I mean, snarling dishwashers?? Hahh.... hope it gets fixed right!

[identity profile] ccr1138.livejournal.com 2009-08-22 03:15 am (UTC)(link)
It may be time to call in an exorcist.
ext_34967: Celtic style letter A (Default)

[identity profile] anissa7118.livejournal.com 2009-08-23 05:31 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, honey. My gods.

You know, for putting up with all this shit, you are building massive amounts of good karma. All your future electronic and appliance purchases must go smoothly.

Seriously. Stuff like this is why I say that whatever else you believe about Deity, he/she/it/they has/have a sense of humor.

[identity profile] smadronia.livejournal.com 2009-08-24 07:53 am (UTC)(link)
I know you've gone and gotten an iPhone already (I am jellos), but in the future, if you need to dry out a phone, try burying it in a jar of rice or silica gel (if yo ucan get it). It might take a few days, but it will do the trick for some phones.

I washed a nokia and just left it apart to dry for a week, and it survived. being without a phone that long sucked, but I was broke and couldn't buy a new one.

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