Blackberry and Water do not mix..A long Story
Well the story you are about to read really happened last night with no embellishment.
Yesterday I met a friend for lunch at this wonderful restaurant with outside seating near the water. The food was amazing, the view was worth a million dollars and the conversation was good. I partook of three glasses of Merlot during lunch. After lunch I met some other friends at a Hotel Bar and the drinking continued.
We than went to another bar which was poppin to say the least. Unfortunately(I say this lightly) I knew the bartender and the drinks were rollin. Well I knew I was passing my limit of comfort and still the drinks continued to come. Well a friend offered to take me home and I told them that I was ok and they then insisted I take a taxi home. They than tried to get my bike keys and I would not let them. Well I took off and went to another bar by myself. I drank there and this is were everything went horribly wrong.
By the time I left the last bar I was very very drunk to the point were the Bartender and Manager came and pleaded with me to park my bike around the back of their building. I do not even remember what I told them but the next thing I know is that I am riding home. Halfway home I decked out on my bike and hit the ground. People who saw the accident came running to help but miraculously I was not hurt in any major way. I did get a little scrape on my knee. Ok it did start to sink in now that I was drunk. When I got up I pushed the bike a little way to this parking lot which was on the edge of the water. I called one of my friends who had been with me earlier that evening and told him I had decked out. In minutes he was there. During our conversation he said to me to watch my helmet as it was getting close to falling in the water. Well don't you know that I watched my helmet just roll and before I could catch it.....Splash. Thank goodness the tide was low because the helmet started to float away and before I knew it I was in the water to get it. My baby (bb) was in my jacket pocket along with my ipod. As soon as I got out of the water I knew the worse had happened.
The bb was filled with water and the ipod was just gone. I was devestated. I turn on the bb and nothing...nothing...nothing...No No Nooooooo...this can't be happening to me. My friend once again pleaded with me to catch a cab home and I told him no. So I jump on my bike again and drive slowly home wet with my dead baby and dead ipod. I was not happy. When I got home I took the sim card out and the battery.
At 8:10am my phone rings and a gentleman is on the line asking for me. I said this is "He" and he explains that he found my wallet in the road near were the accident was. I conveyed my profound thanks to him for his honesty and we agreed upon a time to meet so he can give me back my wallet. Now some of last nights memories come back and to make matters worse I realize that this is indeed Saturday and I open the door to the office. The office opens at 8:30am and I am no were ready or near there. So I call one of my colleagues from my house phone to say I was running horribly late but I would be there. I looked at my ipod and bb I felt like I was at a funeral. I put the battery and sim card back in and again...no power....:(:(:(
I move like lightening in the bathroom and make my way to the office. When I get there I explain that I would not be in most of the day because I need to sort this phone thing out.
All of a sudden I realize that I do not remember most of my friends tel numbers because I just go to my baby and go to their name and call them. I felt sick now. Yes I do have everything backed up on BB Manager but that is no help to me now as I am at the office. I start to panic..I mean I felt isolated, cut-off, severed from my friends.
So I make my way to collect my wallet and than make my way to the electronic store which one of my mates owns and when he saw my face he knew something was wrong. I have about 300 contact names between family, friends, acquaintences and businesses. He took my baby and put her on the operation table and started to operate. He took her apart...and tried to dry her out. He puts her back to together and nothing...:(. This is not good. I said I just have to have a phone. Well he was all out of BB and I purchased a 'cheapie' phone to tie me over until his new BB come in. Well don't you know that as soon as I left his business my baby showed signs of life with "Say a command" I was estatic....Woo Hoo...She stuggled but eventually the main menu was back. But intermittently this keeps coming on which can be very annoying.
Well I get to buy a new BB soon but all this could have been avoided if I had listened to my friends.
Ok please learn the following from me:
1. Do NOT drink and drive - I mean what I did was absolutely stupid, irresponsible, selfish and full of negligence. I could have been hurt, I could have hurt someone..it could have been a really worse outcome than just having to buy a new bb. When your friends tell you do not drink and drive..I beg of you..Do not drink and drive..When they ask for your keys...Give them your keys. Yeah you will say hey I can drive-I'm ok and think that nothing bad will happen to you...Well it might just be you next time..Last night was a serious Wake-Up call for me. I can't even begin to think what would have happened if the Police had been involved.
2. Please Please back up your Contacts - I mean I cannot even articulate what would have happened if the sim card would have been lost or destroyed in some way. When I did check my sim card directory I noticed that a lot of names were not even there and some of those contact numbers are not easy to get a hold of. Yeah most were there and yes the Manager is a great help but initially not being able to connect with people made me realize how much I have to back all numbers up and maybe even hard copy them. I also realized how much I so depend on my baby.
3. Please be grateful for your friends - I mean really be grateful and let them know this. When I told my friend that I had decked out he was there in a flash without me even asking for his help. This spoke volumes to me and cause me to get emotional. He said that is what friends do, get out of their bed and help. A couple of friends when they found out my events were so angry that they could not even talk. One cried as she talked to me she was so mad that I could have gotten hurt and the other well she told me that the same evening another friend of hers had gotten on his bike drunk and had hit a tree and killed himself. So when she heard my news was way angry with me as well. One friend told me that if she was near me she would hit me for my stupidity.
4. Be comforted to know that there are still good people out there. The Bartender and the Manager and the people who came to help at the accident. They were genuinely concerned about my safety and well being. The man who found my wallet and went out of his way to track me down....Words really do fail me here in this...
5. People are more important than things.
6. Have a back up phone as well...They come in handy in the time of need.
The Blackberry has so become an all-important, needful, vital, critical and significant part of my life.
Best,
Otto