THE PHONE

 I think Apple purposely makes their products to last only a certain amount of time before they die.  That way we have to purchase new phones and computers even if we don't want the newest and fanciest model. The last 3 Apple phones I have had all started having problems almost 2 years to the day after I purchased them.  One day the phone is working fine and the next day people can't understand me because the phone is " breaking up".  Guess it's time for a new phone.

The last 3 phones that I bought were all purchased at the AT&T store in Escanaba, MI.  Why ? Because the thought of going to the Apple Store in the mall in FL gave me visions of waiting hours to see someone and then paying a zillion dollars for something I really didn't want.  Up here the AT&T store is manned by 2 young ladies who really know their stuff and are willing to put up with the "old lady" who shows up every 2 years.  There is seldom a wait and the chairs are comfortable. 

And so when my iPhone 11 started acting up just before we left Florida my first stop in MI was at the phone store.  Sure enough, a huge collection of sizes, shapes and colors awaited me. The salesgirl suggested I not get the newest phone because Apple changed how the iPhone 15 is charged.   I didn't feel like having to buy new power cords when I have a LARGE amount of the old cords.  We decided the iPhone 14 would be perfect for me and all my needs.  

Now that the phone is purchased the fun begins.  There is the necessity of taking all the information in my old phone and transferring it to my new phone.   2 years ago when I bought my last phone it took the AT&T girls HOURS to get the damn phones to sync.  But they finally got it and I was good to go for 2 years.  This time it was even more fun.    It seems that phones no longer have SIM cards. I know very little about this topic I just know that there was a little computer chip that you could remove.  Apparently this chip/card held all the information that is in the phone.  Well . . .   God forbid things can be left alone because some genius got rid of the need for a SYM card and replaced it with I HAVE NO IDEA !  All I know is that trying to transfer my information from my old phone into the new phone took a WEEK. I would go to the phone store in the morning and the girls would take my phone for the day. When I picked it up they would assure me it WAS working.   NOT !!!!   And so I would return the next day and on and on it went for seven whole days.   FINALLY . . .  someone figured it out and I was good to go.

Now if you are an owner of one of these cell phones you know how sleek and slim they are.  What you may not know is the little suckers are SLIPPERY !!!  What ever they are made out of it must be part jello because that phone will slip out of my hand every chance it gets.  I learned years ago to get a good phone case to keep the phone from cracking the screen when I drop it.   Un fortunately I did not do my homework and the phone case I bought for my new phone was not very good.  

The new case came with a case that went over the back of the phone but for the screen in the front there was just a piece of plastic that adhered to the screen.  That was supposed to protect the screen. Fast forward about a week after I purchased iPhone 14 and The Man and I are sitting at the kitchen table having dinner.  My phone is sitting on the table minding its own business when The Man says, "Is your phone cracked?"  WHAT ???????   No no no no, it can't be.  But he insists that it is and I look closely and sure enough there is a large crack going from one corner diagonally to the other corner.   I was not happy with myself.  

I lived with the crack for a couple of weeks until I realized I that I had insurance on my phone !!!  Back to the AT&T store. The poor girl working there saw me coming and ran out the back door.   No, not really.  But she probably wanted to.   She listened to my sad tale, looked at the phone, agreed that it was indeed cracked. She then gave me a number to call to register a claim.   Home again, make the phone call, speak to a very nice person who said they would replace the phone. They sent me a new phone within 2 days with instruction on how to transfer my information into the new phone and how to return the old phone.

Having had the experiences of trying to transfer information I decided to go back to the store and have my new best friends set up the new phone for me.  

I walked in and asked the girl if she would help me transfer and wipe out my information.  She had taken pity on me way before this so she said she would be happy to help.   I handed her my old phone, she looked at it and took it out of its case and proceeded to peal the plastic screen saver off the face of the phone.   

MY SCREEN WAS NOT CRACKED !!!

Who knew the plastic adhesive screen saver could crack ????  Boy did I feel dumb.  But I wasn't alone.  The sales girl felt twice as stupid as me because she never REALLY looked at the phone when I had brought it in last time.   

I am now the proud owner of my iPhone 14,  a new and better phone case and a brand new, unused iPhone that I need to send back to AT&T with hopes of them understanding they should not charge me $200 deductible for replacing my phone. 

I see another blog in the making.