June 6, 2011

It's a Damn Miracle!

Saturday morning, I decided, was a good day to spend by the pool, or in it. It was only 100 freakin' degrees outside in Austin, in an unseasonably hot and drought-y June, and the pool looked all sparkly and refreshing and woefully lonesome for company.

At first I sat in a lounger, reading The World According to Garp, and when I got sweaty, I headed for a dip. I stepped down into the water and leaned over to run my hands through it or look at my shadow or some damn thing. Point is, I don't know why I chose to bend over, as it were, but at that precise moment, my cell phone fell out of my swim top. And sank to the bottom. Of the pool. In zig-zag fashion. While I watched. Dumbfounded, and wondering why the hell I stashed my cell phone between my boobs when the whole point of hanging by the pool is to relax, uninterrupted.

Since I hadn't yet gotten all the way into the water—because it was freakin' cold despite the ambient inferno—I gasped and eased in as quickly as I could, up to my hips, with more gasping—and the requisite F-bombs—and used my toes to scoot the phone up the wall, like Patrick Swayze with the penny in Ghost. And I shed tears as I watched the phone rise to the surface with my toes sliding it up. And then I was a believer:  never stick your phone between your boobs if you're going to bend over.

So I got the phone in my hands and opened it (like Captain Kirk with his communicator, requesting a beam-up), and the itty bitty screens were completely black, and within a few minutes of sitting on the scalding deck, they were filled with water spots and mist, and I thought shit, shit, shit, and shit.

Breathing deeply in search of some sort of so-the-hell-what zen, I left the cell in the sun and spent the next hour as a rotisserie chicken on a plastic raft. And then I bitched about my little catastrophe on FaceBook and Twitter, until my roomie offered a most unusual solution.

I call it the Rice-a-Phoni trick. You fill a baggie with rice—in this case, long-grain white—then drop your disassembled cell phone into it and seal it up. Wait 24 hours, while holding your breath.

I did this, and nothing short of the miraculous occurred. We reassembled the phone, et voila! working cell phone! Brought back to life by Rice-a-Phoni, the incredible cell phone feat.

If I could get the same sort of healing for my rotisserie burn, I'd be chin deep in a bathtub full of Rice-a-MyOwny. Ba-da-boom!
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45 comments:

Liz Mays said...

I swear I never believed that the rice thing worked. I am SO impressed!

XLMIC said...

Ha! I did that rice thing too... totally works! I was going to suggest that... but you are too smart and did it before I could ;-) So glad that thing works again!

Gaelyn said...

I've heard of the rice-a-phonie trick before.

Now for the burn, try dabbing tea to take the sting away. Sure laugh.

Michelle Wells Grant said...

Nothing short of a freakin' miracle! Just think, by posting this you may have healed hundreds of phones in the world!

Unknown said...

I heard of that but didn't know it was rice a roni! Least your "beam me up, Scottie" is back to working.

mac said...

First, it was all up in your boobs, then it was saved death by water. It was, indeed, a lucky day for that phone.


I think the key is to get the battery out as quicky as possible. If there's no power running trhough it, the components won't fry.
I know the rice trick works. I dropped my old phone in the lake while trying to get a picture of the whale my boy caught (all 6 inhes of it). And, my boy, being a teenager, has run his phone through the washer a few times, twice the rice treatment worked!

A Daft Scots Lass said...

Great Idea but I used my hair drier for cellphone dips.

Sueann said...

Wow! I have never heard of this. Guess you can tell I haven't gotten my phone wet...as yet...knock on wood. So no one shared this little secret with me. Thanks
And Woot!!! Congrats on saving your phone.
Hugs
SueAnn

Irish Gumbo said...

Ha! And you answered my question, about why sticking the cell phone between your boobs to begin with.

Although, that would make for interesting phone calls if someone had you on speed dial :)

daisyfae said...

sorry for your stress - as a woman who carries her phone in her bra on a routine basis, this is an ever-present fear...

so good to know the rice trick works! someone had suggested it when i jumped in a hot tub, fully clothed, on a dare - of course forgetting that my phone was in my bra.... glad it worked!

Suzy said...

My particular talent used to be dropping phones in the toilet of the restaurant I was in.

I've heard rice works but I didn't have rice at the time so took out the battery, turned on the hairdryer and left it blowing on the phone. It worked.

Unknown said...

Wish I'd known about that rice trick a couple of years ago when I accidently ran my cell phone through the close washer....twice! Bought two new phones in a 3-week period. On the bright side, I've learned to carefully check my jeans pockets before tossing them in the washer!

Kristina P. said...

I have heard about this! I wish I had known about it when I dropped my phone in pedicure water.

Anonymous said...

This makes sense. This is why you put long grain white rice in salt shakers so that it can absorb all the moisture in the air.

Linda Medrano said...

I'm so glad you saved your phone. I had heard about the rice thing, but didn't really know if it would work or not. (Note to self, don't put phone in boobs unless sure you aren't going to lean over!) Actually, I take the phone to the bathtub with me, but that's probably not smart either.

Linda Medrano said...

Oh, and Girl, get some Aloe Vera for that sunburn. It takes out the sting and you actually heal pretty fast with it. (Also, that sunburn is not a good idea for your skin!)

Leesa said...

I have a rule - my cell phone does not follow me to the pool ever. If I am going to relax, I can't do it if my phone is on.

Anke said...

Wow, we just told our neighbours kid to do the same thing! He had gone swimming with the phone still in his pocket! Gotta ask him if it did the trick for him...

mac said...

I couldn't help but think of your phone here.
I bet she ruins a lot of things ;-)

Red Shoes said...

I never in a million years would have bet on THAT working...

Now, I have had all kinds of ailments that can be cured by parking my face in the middle of a pair of boobs...

Just sayin'...

~shoes~

Nancy/BLissed-Out Grandma said...

I saw them do that on Bones. Come to think of it, I learn a lot of odd little things from Bones. So glad it worked for you! But yeah, stashing your phone between your boobs while you are supposed to be relaxing...that's just wrong! Sorry 'bout that burn.

secret agent woman said...

I dried mine over a heat vent once, and it re-started.. This was after running it through the washing machine, soap and all.

Brian Miller said...

nice...i have seen it work as well...i dont think my phone will fit between my boobs though...and i am sure you were glistening not sweating...smiles.

rory said...

That's cool that the rice thing works, but, honestly? from a guy's perspective? what's awesome is the phone nestling between your boobs.
I'm not sure why or when chicks started doing this, but it's hugely sexy.
And I don't even know why-I mean, it's just a phone, right? Tucked into a bra, right?
I mean, right?

Oh, wait.

Jeane M. said...

Wow! I just read a random post about that rice-a-phoni trick of yours sometime a go. Well never thought it really works but I guess its a high time lesson to check first before dipping :-). Well phone soaking would never worry me again, its a good thing. buy aion accounts

CiCi said...

This is a one in a million miracle. A couple weeks ago hubby took the phone with him on a bike ride and forgot to take out the phone and I washed clothes and yes the phone was in his pants pocket. We tried to dry it out but it died. We got another phone. So your experience was excellent compared to ours. Good for you.

Sarah Lulu said...

Hahahaha hilarious mind images!
I've never heard of the rice trick with a phone before (filing it for emergencies). xx

Liz said...

I am glad it worked for you! I have tried it before but it did not work. Of course, that was after I pushed some buttons and they (whoever they is)say DO NOT PUSH ANY BUTTONS!!

meleah rebeccah said...

Oh yeah, same EXACT thing happened to my best friend, Amy. And she also used the rice method, and it saved her cell phone too!

The Mommy Therapy said...

That is a really impressive trick! I'll have to try it when my phone is dropped in water...which will happen soon with my three children running around.

Also, I LOVE The World According to Garp, only to be surpassed by my love for A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving.

lisahgolden said...

That is brilliant!

We're so alike. I can't tell you the number of times I've been searching for my phone only to have my cleavage vibrate. There it is!

Pat said...

This totally didn't work for me when I dropped my phone in the toilet! Maybe it had an adverse reaction to urine? :)

Jayne Martin said...

Well, damn. Rice! I'm glad I've learned that. Now the phone between the boobs thing at the pool... You clearly like to talk on the phone a whole lot more than I do.

Casey Freeland said...

Awesome. Congratulations. Little known fact. This trick does not work with cameras or Garmins. I know this.

Cheers,

Casey

Hilary said...

Good to know.. not that I even have a cell phone but I imagine it might work for other things like iPods and such.. maybe. I'm glad it worked for you.

StephanieinSuburbia said...

Too funny! Who was the first person who thought of this? I know what will fix my waterlogged phone. RICE!

Pearl said...

That is the coolest thing I've heard in a long time!!!

Pearl

Midlife Roadtripper said...

Well, that made for an exciting weekend. That's what you get for hanging out at the pool!

Candice said...

I'll keep that in mind if I ever do something stupid, like dropping my phone in the toilet mid piss or something.

Glad yours survived!

SuzRocks said...

I've heard of that trick- didn't know if actually worked! Yay.

I used to keep my phone in my chest pocket of my scrubs when I'm at the hospital, till it almost fell out in someone's bed full of crap.

Literally crap. I don't keep it in that pocket anymore. I doubt the rice would've worked on crap.

Jason, as himself said...

I tried it, but it didn't work for me. Maybe it's because I dropped my phone in the toilet instead of the pool. I bet that's it.

Wendi said...

So, it can't be pork fried rice? No wonder mine still doesn't work.

Twenty Four At Heart said...

Sometimes the rice trick works and sometimes it doesn't. Glad it worked for you!

McGillicutty said...

Good job, I heard a friend of mine had done this too.... with her phone and with a camera.. I swear she has the biggest boobs to be carrying around all that junk in there!!

Juli said...

I had a phone I really liked, and I dropped it in the toilet at the zoo. Unfortunately I didn't know to rice it until it was too late.

Now I have a phone I hate. And it just won't die.