Death of an iPhone

I wasn't ready for it. The end came without warning. Well, okay, there had been some clues that it wouldn't last. My phone had been dropping its charge with no warning and overheating for the past few weeks. But it didn't happen all the time, and I didn't want a new phone. I had everything just right on my old one -- my favorite apps, my special ringtone ("These Boots Were Made for Walking"), and the new case I bought only a month or so ago. This morning when I got up, my phone showed "extremely low battery!" so I put it on to charge. My son called to get my advice on a shoe-cleaning emergency; we talked for about a half hour, and when I hung up I saw that the phone battery was in the red. I put it on the charger, but it didn't charge. Even after two hours, it had no charge. I knew it was the end.

I was dreading my trip to the local Sprint store, but it turned out to be a great experience. I was there for two-and-a-half hours, as several complications arose. I left the store with not just one iPhone 6+ but two. There was a deal that made the cost per month (yes, my phone is leased, something else I was trying to avoid) the same for two phones as for one, so how could I say no? My oldest son's phone has been acting up and my middle son just got a new phone last week, so the big boy got a 6+ too. The young man who waited on me in the store was so nice. He had a great sense of humor and we actually had a good time getting it all set up. He wanted to make sure he had everything just perfect for me. And then, a miracle occurred: My dead phone, which the Sprint guy had put on a charger as soon as I got there, had a glimmer of life, allowing him to transfer any data not included in my most recent backup. I had hoped my saved voice mails would transfer; I saved a message from my friend who died last year, and maybe it's creepy, but sometimes I liked to play the message just to hear his voice. Unfortunately, that's gone now.

As is the case with much progress, particularly technology-related, I usually feel like I'm being dragged into it kicking and screaming. I didn't want a new phone. I would have been happy to keep the pink iPhone 5 forever. (There is no pink 6.) Plus, this thing is a behemoth. I feel like I'm holding my tablet to my ear. The nice Sprint guy -- and a hot-pink Otter Box case -- made it a little easier to move forward. And it's a good thing I recently got an educator's discount on my Sprint bill. That will offset the cost of leasing the phones. As always, you gotta take the bad with the good.