The phenomenon continued off and on for several days following and reached the point where I was giving serious consideration to standing on the point down there at West Neck and seeing how far I could throw it. I'll have to admit I've had the same inclination about my computer from time to time, but its size would make for a pretty awkward toss.
The situation with my phone came to a head this past Friday. I had had all I could stand and decided to visit the local Verizon store. My plan was to go there, explain the problem, and see if they could fix it, and failing that, I would get a new no-frills flip phone.
While waiting for a sales rep to be freed up so he/she could help me, I went looking at their new low-end phones, where I had the whole area to myself--who would have thought, huh? Finally, though, a very short, young lady came bouncing up to where I was standing, asking what she could do to help. In a million years, I never would have guessed the advice I was going to get from this gal.
After explaining the extent of my problem to her, she took my phone and checked a couple of things on it. Then she asked me how often I power the phone down. My response was that I never power it down, instead opting only to shut off all sounds before I go to bed each night.
She then shook her head and said, "That very well could be your problem, sir. You see, cellphones need to rest from time to time, so the batteries can renew themselves."
I know I must have had an incredulous look on my face when she said that. I mean, after all, I know I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but do I really look like I've been hiding under a rock all my life? Nevertheless, I played along with her for a minute, asking, "How often and how long at a time should I let it rest?"
Her response was, "Oh, only for a couple of minutes every other day or so."
By now, I had played this silly game as long as I could keep a semi-straight face, so I thanked the young woman and headed for the exit. It was quite evident that, since I wasn't interested in trading up to a smartphone or other high-tech model, a certain part of my anatomy was "going to be sucking bilge water" before I obtained any satisfaction in this store.
Later that evening, I took out my flip phone, grabbed an old toothbrush, and vigorously scrubbed away some muck buildup I noticed around the picture-taking-function button. And you know what? Ever since then, the phone has worked flawlessly again--and that's without giving it a moment's rest.
Guess maybe I need to throw an old toothbrush in my tacklebox, so I can take care of this problem the next time it happens while I'm on the water. After all, I don't need any distractions out there.
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