Friday, August 28, 2009

Death by Hot Tub

Those of you who follow me on Twitter (mom2my6pack) or have friended me on Facebook know that I've been traveling a bit this month. Between my 3 short trips and getting everything ready for back-to-school time, Ive kinda been MIA here. But now (WHEW!) the kids are back in school and I'm staying put for a while.

I went to New York for one night to learn about the Smart Choices program, then to Chicago for one night to cook and brainstorm in the Kraft kitchens (more on that to come), then, most recently, to Minneapolis to check out the General Mills kitchens and photo studio (more on that to come too). In other words, I've done nothing but eat for 2 weeks.

It's a little chilly here in Chicago, so I pulled on a pair of jeans today for the first time in months. Actually, let me rephrase that. I attempted to pull on a pair of jeans today. Ohmygosh. I can't breathe, I'm pretty sure I've completely cut off all circulation to my legs, and I'm quite certain I'll need medical assistance, and likely the jaws of life, to get them off, but I refuse to admit defeat (and the fact that I've gained weight my jeans have shrunk).

This is the same reason I refuse to pack a bathing suit when I travel. I know the hotels that I stay in have pools. I love to swim. But, 50 fellow camera-toting bloggers are not going to see me in a suit. So, 2 nights ago, in Minnesota, my awesome, admirable, sweet friend
Liz from ThisFullHouse and I decided that the hot tub in the hotel looked really inviting. We decided to sit on the edge of the tub and dangle our feet in the water. After a day of traveling, the warm, swirling water felt wonderful and made us long to hop in. So we did. In capris and t-shirts. What the heck? It was late at night. There were only a couple other awesome bloggers around. No big deal, right? Except I had my phone in my pocket. My newish iPhone. In my pocket. In the hot tub. That's right. It was probably a good ten minutes before I got out and realized what I'd done. (Wine may or may not have been involved.)

Now I know sometimes a phone that's had a little water damage, can dry out. Opening the phone, taking out the battery and card and putting it in a container of rice can sometimes pull the moisture out of it. However, after I steeped my phone in very hot water for 10 minutes, I knew there would be no reviving it. I killed it. It was dead. Not mostly dead. All, 100%, totally dead.

It would be bad enough if I'd killed my phone at home, but killing it when I was in another state made me insane. I couldn't talk to Joe or the kids. I couldn't Twitter. I couldn't check my mail. I couldn't listen to music. I couldn't play solitaire. I couldn't look at my blog. I came to the conclusion that I was addicted to missed my phone. I started crying, shaking, and twitching uncontrollably. This was followed by hyperventilating and mumbling incoherently causing fellow bloggers to slap me repeatedly, "Snap out of it!"

Long story short, Greg from General Mills and Allison from Coyne PR both offered to take me to a nearby mall so I could replace my phone. Now, that's going the extra mile, don't you think? Allison ended up driving me over to the Ridgedale Mall. We found the AT&T store, I walked in and asked if I could get a new iPhone. The guy looked up and said, "We don't sell iPhones here."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" I shouted. "Oh, that's unfortunate," I lamented.
"But there's an Apple store in the mall," he offered.
"YES!!!!!!" I shouted. "I mean, thank you, sir."

So, we headed to the Apple store where half the population of Minnesota was. Seriously, where did all the people come from? It was a Thursday afternoon. Didn't anyone work??? Although it was impossibly crowded, the guys there were nice and helpful and sympathetic about my plight. When I told them I was from out of town and had to catch a plane in an hour, they managed to squeeze me in and get me all set up with a new phone just in time for my trip home. Oh yeah, and they suggested I don't take my phone in the hot tub with me again. Gee, ya think?




18 comments:

Christina in Vegas said...

It could be worse. The first week I started grad school, my 2 year old decided to be a helpful monkey and she washed my phone...you know...in the sink...with WATER! So...mama got a new phone and she's not allowed to touch it!

Jen said...

ROFL Glub, glub, water tastes good. :P That hot tub really looks inviting, doesn't it? I'm glad you got a new phone. Did you manage to find out how much you missed being away without the iPhone for awhile? I can almost bet that you could write a short story on just that information. *giggles* :P

I'm only teasing, Dawn. I'm so very glad you got a new phone. :D

Jessica Samantha said...

That's terrible!
I hope next time you'll feel comfortable without the kids... but not tooo comfortbale.

TheQueen@TerrorsInTiaras said...

I know I shouldn't be laughing, I just can't help it. Sorry.

Jennifer said...

I was reading the new copy of HomeLife and was pleasantly surprised to see and article you had written. Congrats.

Liz@thisfullhouse said...

Congratulations! So, what's your new baby's name?

Anonymous said...

Awww, it happens to the best of us. My spouse has: washed a cell phone, put another one through the dryer, and sent a digital camera through a car wash on top of the car!

The cell phones were killed, but the digital camera works fine (its a sony).

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Michelle said...

Ummm oops. I like that your solution is to stay out of the hot tubs and not to avoid the wine ;)

And would you believe that I used to work in Ridgedale at the Mrs. Fields on the first floor? Then again, back when I worked there, there was no Apple store. Or AT&T store. *sigh*

Kelly L said...

Funny - I accidentally threw my phone in the ocean once - off the end of a pier - never did retrieve it - I'm guessing Jaws ate it..
Great story and glad you got a new phone.. Bad hot tub!
Love,
Kelly
http://www.ivebecomemymother.com

Mum-me said...

I'm laughing so much at this story, and it made me glad I keep my phone in my handbag.

Unknown said...

Dawn: Were the nice people at the APPLE STORE willing to just hand you over a nice NEWI-Phone...at NO Fee?

I find myself in the market for my first ever SMART PHONE(SO : Did they have a bunch of already charged up phones ready to hand over? I have read every techical site out there..about the different brands available, APPLE, especially now,with its new GS version, looks to be a MUST HAVE toy. So..IF ya don't mind,,will you share a bit MORE of your experience with us.Basically,in your experience, how nice AND how flexible did you find their SERVICE?
AND..HOW are you feeling these days? Any signs of that pesky "maybe FLU" Stay well,dear heart!

Julie H said...

Eeekkkk I can't live without my phone and I don't even use the internet on it. Although I'm thinking of upgrading to an iPhone.

Unknown said...

So far, I've washed two iPods (1 survived perfectly and the 2nd one the backlight was the only problem), a digital camera (turns out they are NOT waterproof), and a cell phone (after a few days, phone worked fine, but the slide out keyboard waited another 3 weeks before coming back to life). I think my washing machine needs an electronics detector!

Sorry to hear about the iPhone, but glad you got a replacement!

Sue said...

We call that Minnesota nice.

buffalo amy said...

About 3 weeks ago, my 7yo daughter was emptying the dishwasher and i hear, "Mom, why is dads cell phone in the dishwasher??" Yep, a phone that was only about 2 months old went thru an entire wash and heated dry. Needless to say, his attempts at drying it out (including putting it in the oven) did not work...he now has another brand new one. :)

Vanessa said...

All I can say, is that I would die if that happened to me. Did you see your life flash before your very own eyes?

Tuttimaniac said...

Dawn - if you ever decide to sell the drowned I-phone on ebay - that story would be great for selling it!

btw I would LOVE to have an I-phone for myself!

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