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23 September, 2009

It's A Miracle!

Surely it is. Before I took my Motorola RAZR cell phone in for an attempted repair, I was positive it was actually a lost cause.

About three weeks ago, I had dropped it from my workbench's work surface (about 3'6" from the ceramic tiled floor). When that happened, it still worked as a phone and as a camera - yes, it did both of those things routinely prior to my dropping it on the floor.

What it no longer was able to do after dropping it was to connect via USB cable to my laptop. So, even though it could still take pictures, there wasn't jack that I could do with them. And the same thing applied to entering new phone numbers or editing existing ones. I was faced with having to do it all manually. At least the SIM card still contained all the phone info.

I lived with the phone in that situation for a couple of weeks, fully intending to take the phone to Technicell, located at White Saphire, to see if there was any way possible to repair it. I didn't have high hopes of anything bringing it back to one-hundred percent.

That is, until I decided to take this particular phone for a swim (http://winjama.blogspot.com/search/label/Cell%20Phones). Well, after that, it was either take it into the shop or resign myself to not having the capability to take photos no matter where I was and whether I had remembered my camera or not.

I took it in to Technicell on the 18th (last Friday). I mentioned that I had taken it for a swim. I did forget to mention the problems stemming from dropping the danged thing. They told me to come in next Tuesday afternoon as it wouldn't be ready till then.

"Yeah right". All that will happen is I'll come in on Tuesday and they'll tell me the bad news - "I'm sorry Mr Dave, your phone is terminal. You might as well through it away."

Well, that was what I thought anyway. I forgot go in Tuesday to check on it (which may have influenced the outcome in some weird karmic sort of way). I did manage to get in to Technicell this morning as I also had to make a run to the airport to FedEx some papers up to the states.


Anyway, I presented my ticket to the girl behind the counter. As she began rummaging through the drawer filled with phones with repairs completed, I thought, why? It's probably in the dead file.

Lo and behold! She pulled it out, unwrapping the work ticket from the phone. She told me, they cleaned, dried, recharged and tested the phone and that it worked fine. "Wow!" She turned it on and showed me that it did work. And the bill was only $55.00 BZD, which I gladly paid.

As soon as I got home, I inserted the SIM chip, confirming that yes, it really did work as expected. Next, I hooked it up to my laptop via the USB cable, and, this is the truly astounding bit, I could download photos from the phone to the laptop. These photos had been held captive in the phone for a little over three weeks. I had about given up hope of ever saving them.

Here's two of the photos as proof:

Corozal Market Construction
Ho Ti at Chon Kong
The one I took right after construction began in the Corozal marketplace (the Gabriel Hoare Market is its proper name). The picture immediately above is from the Chon Kong Chinese Restaurant, one of the nicest Chinese restaurants in town. They also have about the best fried chicken, too.

The chubby little fu**** guy is Ho-Ti, or more properly, Hotei, god of contentment and happiness. His origins are in Chinese Taoism/Buddhism. He's also one of Japan's seven lucky gods. In the west, he's generally know as the Fat Buddha or Laughing Buddha.

He's said to be an incarnation of Miroku Bosatsu. Miroku in China is known as Miluo Fo (or as Miluo Pusa). In Japanese, his name means "cloth bag", which is a reference to the never-emptying cloth bag he wears on his back since he uses that to feed the poor and needy.

Hotei is probably based on a Chinese Buddhist monk who lived in the 10th-century. He's also related to or may even be an incarnation of an Indian god. There's also Tibetan and Korean influences involved with him.

Somewhat confusingly, Hotei is also sort of the patron saint of restauranteurs and bartenders, which probably explains more why he's at the front door of Chon Kong than anything else.

So, now you know. 1) The phone works, almost like new again, and 2) More about Hotei than you ever dreamed you'd want to or could know.

3 comments:

Julian in SC said...

You truly must be living right. Maybe the cleaning did something to restore the connection to your USB Jack. Who knows... just enjoy it and T R Y to avoid doing weird things with it again. You might get a short lanyard and hook it over your neck so it constantly bangs you and you are always aware of it. Hmmm.. that would probably hasten it's demise in and of itself.

Oh well, I don't have to worry about it until I retire and stop hooking a holder on my belt. Well, maybe I'll keep wearing a belt after I retire. Depends on how warm it is... *grin*

Dave Rider said...

Julian, I've got two leather belts and two neckties. I've worn one of each exactly twice since I've been down here.

The belts continually mildew on me and are candidates for the trash. I'm not sure about the ties - maybe use them as expensive sweat bands.

Dave

Anonymous said...

Not surprised it worked, the folks at White Sapphire are super. Very friendly and professional---Billy