Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Cell Phone Repair Man

I put Mom-E's cell phone through rigorous aerodynamic testing on Friday. (It did surprisingly well--good for you Motorola Razr.)

And now for a description of the test procedures/results:
I was vacuuming out my car before leaving for work on Friday, owing to the boss would be riding in my car later in the day. Mom-E's phone was conspicuously sleeping in the driver's seat. (She says it accidentally fell out of her pocket, I think the phone had volunteered to be a test subject, and spent the night in the car to get my attention).

Either way, I put Mom-E's phone on the deck of the trunk while I vacuumed out the car (a prelude to this Friday's post, "Fun with Car Seats"). The problem was that I forgot Mom-E's phone was still on the trunk after I finished. We'll blame it on a combination of "it was 6:45 am" and parenting-induced chronic fatigue syndrome.

Shortly therafter I left for work.

As I'm walking in to work, I get this funny feeling like "I know I've screwed up, but I don't know what I did." (As you can see, marriage has trained me fairly well). Slowly, my hampster wheel starts to come around, and I begin to think "did I bring Mom-E's phone inside? Oh, no, tell me I didn't." (I did.)

I call Mom-E's cell phone and get the voicemail. Okay, there's a chance she's still alive.

I call Mom-E at the house. (Of course), her phone is not there. I alert her to the "possible situation", all the while my accumulated cache of "husband points" are dropping faster than the stock market.

Mom-E bundles up the boys, puts them in the stroller, and goes down the street looking (to no avail) for the phone. I'm now running a negative balance in the "husband points" category. Mom-E believes her phone to be dead and gone.

About 9:30 am, I get a call from Mom-E's cell phone! "Yay, it's her, she's found it!"

It's not Mom-E. It's a construction worker, who found the phone about 15 miles from our house, near an exit ramp off the highway. Apparently, the phone was run over, but it had enough life in it to power up and make a call.

And that was the last call her phone ever made. Mom-E was able to reclaim her phone and pay "last respects", but that's about it. At least the phone had one heckuva final ride.

And sweet Big Brother, the same Big Brother who tells us "I have to play with my Play-Doh because it's sick and that'll make it feel better", consoles Mom-E on her loss.

He quickly said, "Mom-E, when we get home, we can get some tape and fix your phone."
What youthful optimsm. Don't ever let go of that Big Brother. If only everything could be fixed with tape (or superglue).

And when Mom-E showed him the broken phone, he said without hesitation "Mom-E, we can go to the 'girl store' and buy another pink phone." Spoken like a true "Repair Man". It's even better when you can create a store that only sells exactly what you need. When all else (i.e. tape) fails, Big Brother knows to get out the toolbox (a.k.a. wallet).

You're such a sweet helper, Big Brother. It's too bad you fell asleep in the car for an hour while Mom-E was in the "Girl Store" getting a replacement phone.

Don't worry though, we'll call you the next time.

See you Friday,
Busy-Dad-E

5 comments:

  1. Dad-E, Have you started re-accumulating husband points from your negative balance yet? Haha!
    Big Brother is definitely very compassionate when it comes to these kinds of things. He will grow up to be a fine man.

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  2. I think I'm moving towards being "in the black" again with husband points, but only Mom-E knows the official balance.

    P.S. I like your change in screen name to Gramm-E. We need to get Grampap-E on here, too.

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  3. Very well written! I enjoy reading your blog. It makes my days just a little more brighter. I laugh even more b/c I am notorious for leaving my phones everywhere. Rosi

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  4. Don't worry, Dad-E! We all do these things... you were never in the "red" with your husband points. I am glad the phone was found so we could have some closure. Ha ha ha...

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  5. Oh come on, that phone can still be fixed. When regular scotch tape doesn't work, break out the Duct Tape. That's Super Mega Tape around these parts and fixes ANYTHING. That and a little Windex. :)

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