As shown in the previous post, my iPhone didn’t come back from Rehoboth the same way that it left. Luckily, it still works. Even the touchscreen aspects are still functioning properly although there is a little bit of “scratch” on some parts of the screen. It’s not enough to scratch my finger but it’s still friction.

This is how it happened:

We all woke up on Saturday and did the normal routine: coffee and computers on the back deck. It’s such a great time, those mornings, usually nursing a slight hangover, bedhead, clacking away on keyboards, talking & laughing about the previous evening’s activities.

We decide to head out for breffus and we go to Sunshine in Dewey Beach. There I have a gyro omelette, which sounds crazy but was delicious. Afterwards, we split for errands. Christopher is going to do some shopping so I decide to hang out with him, driving around in the top-off Jeep. Well, I’m texting, checking status, etc while we’re stuck in traffic and instead of putting the phone into my pocket which I normally do I put it on the seat, between my legs, figuring that I’m only going to be breaking out to do something else soon. Of course I forget about it there when we stop in the parking. I open the door, slide out of the slide and crash goes the phone on the pavement. Crakt.

After much cursing I decided to not let this incident destroy my beach weekend. It works, deal with the mess later.

Now, dealing with the mess later, I’m exploring options on what to do about this. I first go the Bethesda’s Apple Store because I could secure a quick appointment the afternoon of “The Crash”. I hadn’t been to that one before so it would be an adventure. I even saw cutie John King from CNN there at the Genius Bar. But the Genius told me it was $200 for a glass screen/sensitivity chamber replacement which is the cost for a new 3G/S. Next.

Then a friend sent me notice of takeitapart.com which is a great little site that demonstrates how to, um, take things apart. In true Web 2.0 fashion there is a YouTube clip with each instruction so you can watch along. Really nice. But unfortunately the first generation iPhone is as easily accessible as the newer ones and the voiceover on the instructional video was “yeah, this is kind tender here… don’t do this unless you’re really sure… ” something like that. I check the price of the parts and they’re practically $140, which is comparable to the cost of a new model.

Now what to do?

I’m at the beach. I came down with Eddy (and full-grown yet little dog Buddy) yesterday; Chris & Jeff came down the day before.

Last night was making the usual rounds at Aqua for cocktails and then Nicola’s for pizza w/ extra sauce and extra cheese. Then back home for True Blood and standup comedy. It may sound rather bland and routine but that’s the way time is spent at the beach and it’s relaxing and carefree.

For instance, our mornings are spent drinking coffee and Facebooking/surfing on the back deck. Sometimes we have to piece together the previous evening but since there are only four of us here I don’t think things are going to get too out of hand. But you never know. It’s exactly noon now and half of us are still on the back porch: Chris is watching True Blood on Hulu and I’m writing this. Our afternoon hasn’t been planned out yet and that’s the pace at which things go. It’s nice.

Just now, a notice from Eddy to get showered, our day is starting to move forward.

I am in the grooviest doctor’s office waiting room that I have ever been in. It’s probably a simple Ikea setup, but at least it looks new and has clean lines. Someone needs to straighten the artwork on the walls but I’m going to let that slide.

My appointment is for 1:30 and I’m seen at 1:32. I like this doctor already.

I’ve had a couple of left-ear blockages in the past, nothing major and usually a good syringe-plunging washout does the trick and actually feels really good. I tell my new non-insurance doctor what’s going on, he has a look in both ears and explains that it’s not a typical waxy buildup, but that I had liquid behind my eardrum. That is what is stopping the eardrum from vibrating and clicking on all those other little bones in there which produces sound.

He then proceeds to look up my nose because all those holes in your face are connected inside your skull. He, oddly, then pulls out a tuning fork. He rings it and places it near each ear and of course the sound is different because I can’t basically hear out of my left ear. He rings it again and places the handle end on the top of my forehead. The vibrating moves through my skull and directly into my left ear. It was the oddest thing ever and I kind of wanted him to do it again.

Then he sprays a mist that smelled and tasted like Vick’s Vaporub into each nostril while I’m instructed to take a quick snort. Then he brings out a tiny exploratory camera on the end of a flexible tube and sticks that into my nose. This was a little uncomfortable as I feel this tube exploring around my sinuses. That I wouldn’t want to do again. The tuning fork, yes, but not this.

The prognosis is that I have a blocked eustachian tube. This is the tiny canal that connects the ear to the back of the throat. There’s no real quick fix, like the flushing I mentioned earlier, so the only thing to do is take sinusy-type medicines and prescription nasal sprays (he gave me a free sample though). And when I’m purchasing the OTC meds it is apparently the hardcore kind that you can make tina out of, because I’m scanned and documented at the CVS point of purchase. Plus he tells me that I need to become a gum chewer to keep things moving and lubricated. So now I get to be one of those people, but all under a doctor’s care. Okay, meds, do your thing!

I’m biking home at midnight. It’s raining. This is typical for the way things are going now. My breath is hammering in my left ear, just like Dave as he goes on his mission to rescue Frank. Huuhh. Wuuuw. Huuuhh. Wuuuuw. Huuuuw. Wuuuuw. This continutes for blocks.

Tomorrow (Thursday) I have an appointing with an otolaryngologist who will either tell me that I’m permanently deaf in one ear or that he will be able to flush out the goo that’s been hanging out in there for the last two weeks.

Let’s see…

I still can’t hear about of my left ear after Eddy’s drunken/birthday/hello greeting. I’ve been hydrogen peroxiding it all weekend long, and while it’s tickly and bubbly it still hasn’t solved the problem. I’m afraid I’m going to have to put my no insurance/Medicaid to the test soon and actually go and see a doctor. Is it ironic that a cancelled beach trip with a deaf friend this weekend is the same time that I can’t hear?

This week I’m starting M–F half-days at my “volunteer” job. Best thing about it is that it’s only five blocks away. I haven’t even ridden the bike there, it’s quite enjoyable just to walk through the neighborhood. It takes about two iPod songs. Things I’ve noticed while walking that I never saw before on the bike or in a car: There is a house on 14th that has an entire porch covering made out of a wisteria tree. I’ll take a pic this week and add it here. Also, there is a grate/manhole cover on C that still has the ladder in it leading down to the catacombs. Whether the workers left it there or it’s non-removable is unknown.

After my last round of the blandest marinara sauce ever, I’ve redeemed myself with yesterday’s batch. While I didn’t have some of my fave/regular ingredients, I pulled it out with an eye-measured mix of ground cayenne red pepper, epazote, ground red chipotle, ground mustard, oregano and adobo seasoning. And the cans of diced tomatoes also had some jalapeños in them. And S&P, of course.

I’m going to see if I can barrel through a re-watch of Season 1 and 2 of Mad Men before the 3rd Season premiere on August 16. Since I don’t have AMC, luckily iTunes has S3 available for next-day downloads. That is something I’ll spend $20 on.

Useless trivia: Kristy McNichol’s name was spelled “Kristie” during the pilot credits of Family. When I was a kid in the 70s, I had a box full of notecards that listed the 555-xxxx phone numbers of television characters that I had collected over the years. I had the numbers of the Brady’s and Jaime Sommers, those that I can remember. Now you can just find them here.