It was about one week ago today that I came home, tossed my coat on the stairs as I usually do, and I heard something most distressing: an object sliding out of my coat pocket, falling to the bookshelf underneat the stairs then promptly falling behind the bookcase.
At that point it was obvious this was my cell phone, and I was horrified. Electronic devices aren't meant to sustain a fall of this magnitude: I estimate that it's about a seven foot drop to the ground.
I run downstairs to check if I can see it behind the bookcase, and I was reminded that I never actually heard the phone hit the ground. Surely it would be audible. I glance up and there is my cell phone: wedged in behind the bulge of the bookcase, hanging precariously six feet above the ground.
Well, what does one do now? If I shift the bookcase out, it will fall. I must find something to grab it: I just wish I had one of those long robot arms, but the only thing handy was a broom. Of course, the brook stick is too long and un-wieldly to handle such a delicate operation. So, I got some salad tongs. Makes sense, right? Just reach behind, grab the phone and be on my way.
Unfortunately it never came to fruition: my attempts to grab the phone were halted when I accidentally jarred the phone loose, and it took that six-foot plunge towards the hard floor below.
It would be another half hour before I saw the phone again, simply because I had to move so much stuff off the bookshelf (it's weighed down in what must be hundreds of pounds of magazines and cut-up ads).
The bookshelf eventually moved, and I was able to slide the phone out from underneath it. As it scraped along the floor, I assume it was getting all scratched up, but the way the bookshelf lies I couldn't just move the whole thing aside. I had to slide the phone.
Picking up the phone, I was astonished that there was no markings on it. Just a little scratch that had been there for over a year, but nothing new. No dents from the fall. The only thing that gave away it had been somewhere it shouldn't was the dust. The phone is fully operational, and has no sign of the fall. I was impressed, but also slightly disappointed at the same time: it would have been kind of nice to upgrade to a newer phone, and a breaking would be a perfect excuse. After all, I'm not going to replace a perfectly good phone for no real good reason.
Alas, I may have purchased a phone that is too good. Many of you may recall my beast of a phone. It has tons of features (that were cutting edge two years ago) that are all standard - and smaller - in phones today.
Perhaps my phone will break some other time, then I can move on. But for now I'm stuck with the big guy - not that I'm complaining, but you know how nice it is to get new tech.