When nature calls, some cell phone owners should answer very carefully

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ^ | April 2, 2005 | Stanley A. Miller, II

[Graybeard58]

I have droppefd my phone so many times on pavement I can't count them and it still works just fine. I haven't dropped it in the crapper though.

[Fido969]

Man, this is way too much information. Must have been a slow news day.

Anyone ever drop anything else into the toilet? Call the Milwaukee Journal, they may want to do a feature article on you.

[billorites]

Can you hear me now?

[AppyPappy]

This is one thing that won't be happening to me. I don't do cell phones.

[EggsAckley]

Lexi Phillips sounds like a natural blonde.

[anniegetyourgun]

Lexi? Gad, I hope this ditz with the so-hip name isn't also a blonde. That would just add to my on-going battle for credibility.

[Wolfie]

"But after pulling it out of there after a few days, well, I really wouldn't have wanted to use it anyway," he said.

Executive material, that boy is.

[Catphish]

My picture cell phone has made it twice through the wash and spin cycle and one through the dryer with nary a scratch. Now I check my little cell phone pocket in my jacket before I wash it.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Wife dropped my cell phone in 19 feet of water. She did not offer to retrieve it.

[Diddle E. Squat]

'Can' you hear me now?

[Diddle E. Squat]

Arrgh, you beat me to it!

[al baby]

[knews_hound]

I work in the Telecom field and deal with this a LOT.

FYI if you do happen do drop your phone in water (of any sort).

1 - Get it out as fast as you can.

2 - Immediately remove the battery.

3 - shake and swing it around, trying to force as much water out as fast as possible.

4 - Let it air dry in a warm, not hot, environment for several days at least.

5 - Keep your fingers crossed, plug the battery back in and hope for the best.

I have found that if you do these steps, it will recover most cell phones with no apparent damage.

However, if you dropped it into the WC with other types of "liquids" or even worse, solids, all bets are off.

Not that you would get me even contemplating putting it up close to my face after THAT anyway.

Cheers,

knews hound

[linn37]

Hubby likes to drop his in the bucket he uses to wash tile off. It still works but now he has to charge it everynight.

[A Ruckus of Dogs]

Last time I was in an airport restroom, the woman in the stall next to me was gabbing on the phone. And no, she wasn't saying she couldn't talk at the moment, she was yakking on and on about nothing in particular. You have to wonder about people who have to be in constant contact with someone else, even when taking a crap.

[NoClones]

work in telecommunications & have yet to hear someone with a cell phone have a meaningful conversation!

[A Ruckus of Dogs]

I hope this ditz with the so-hip name isn't also a blonde. That would just add to my on-going battle for credibility.

You know, I actually read an article about natural blondes dying their hair dark and finding out they were indeed taken more seriously. It wasn't an actual scientific study and I don't know about the default intelligence of the women in question, but it was an interesting result.

[tiki]

LOL, my husband ran over his with a 1 ton truck but one in 13 yrs isn't too bad.
They won't even sell my son insurance anymore because he's destroyed so many. He works in construction and he's buried them, run over them and dropped them into ditches full of water.

[lstanle]

"I work in the Telecom field and deal with this a LOT"

I dropped my cell phone into a bucket of water with live minnows while fishing and generally followed the procedures you listed. That was over a year ago and the phone is still working fine.

I also had my garage door go nuts once, up down, up down, and found my opener remote in the clothes dryer. That was several years ago and it also is still working.