R.I.P., Oh my beloved iPhone 3Gs

I have been waiting with great anticipation – counting down the days, in fact – until I was eligible to upgrade my iPhone 3Gs to an iPhone 4 at a discounted price.  That date came this past week – June 25th!  That evening, I eagerly got on-line to make sure I was now eligible and what my cost would be.  Happy with what I found, I made plans to go to the AT&T store this weekend to make my purchase!  Then, the next day, I heard the rumors about the iPhone 5 possibly coming out in September!  Uh oh!  What was I to do now?  Go ahead with my plans to get the highly anticipated iPhone 4 or wait for the 5?  What if I decide to wait and it doesn’t come out as rumored?  What if it does and it is back ordered for a year?  Oh the dilemma!  Advice from friends were split 50/50 with go for the 4 and wait for the 5!  My decision came yesterday – wait for the 5, but if the rumors push the unveiling date out at all, then bite the bullet and go for the 4!

That was yesterday!  Today is a different day…….and story!

For about a week, now, I’ve noticed my phone was running out of juice faster than usual.  By the time I’d get home each day, it was down to about 25% charge.  I didn’t think much of it cause I have been texting more lately and getting more calls – all because of working through purchasing a retirement home long distance!  So, I just thought that I was running it down faster than I typically do.  Today, while I was out and about, I checked emails, got and responded to a text message, and took a few photos.  In particular, I was driving by the rebuilding efforts at the Lowes that was damaged during the tornado.  To my surprise, there was a very large helicopter hovering low over the parking lot.  Luckily, the light at that corner turned red, so I could stop and gawk at it – they were using the helicopter to lift large pieces of equipment of some kind up onto the roof!!!  Who needs a crane when you can have a helicopter!  WOW – I grabbed my phone and snapped a picture before the light turned green.  Then, I went up to Murphy Express and gassed up the pony.  On the way back, I was mesmerized by the helicopter, again, so I turned into the Capital Bank parking lot and stood with the dozen or so other spectators taking photos and video.  I snapped a bunch of photos and got in the car to leave.  I went to turn off my camera and noticed that my screen was black – I tried to wake it up and nothing happened – I tried to shut it down and nothing happened!  I thought the battery must have run down because I was taking so many photos and zoomed in to get them.  So, I plugged it into my car charger – and nothing happened!!!  The phone was DEAD!!!!

Apparently, once I decided to wait for the 5 to come out, a signal went straight to Steve Jobs alerting him of a lost sale.  He said, “oh no you don’t, Kim!  I need to reduce inventory of the 4s before I put the 5s out there.  No one deliberately waits for the 5!!!”  I contend that he then sent a whammy to my phone to end its battery life!  That sealed the deal and made my decision for me!  I either had to go with the 4 now or go without a phone until the 5 comes out!  That was NOT going to happen – going with the 4 is the only option!  Thanks a lot, Steve Jobs!

I had plans to go see the new Tom Hanks / Julia Roberts movie and thought that I could still go see the movie and go to the AT&T store in Cary tomorrow.  But, panic set in — how could I go a full 24 hours without my iPhone?  So, off to Cary I went!  I can see the movie another time – maybe tomorrow!

But – remember my ranting about how much I hate Cary and the disastrous last trip I made up there?  Well, I sure thought about it on the drive in.  But, I knew exactly where the AT&T store was – the one I got my 3Gs at – right next to BJs – easy!  I could go directly there, do what I needed to do, and get out!  Right?  WRONG!  I drove right to the location of the AT&T store and found an empty store front!  WTH????  Oh no!!!  But, wait – I remembered when I was driving around lost looking for a gas station on that last trip that I saw another AT&T store.  Did I remember correctly?  Was it near Cary Towne Center?  I headed that way to find out – keeping my fingers crossed!  Yep – BINGO – there it was, right where I thought I had seen it!  WHEW!  I went in and told my story to the sales person.  He tried to get my phone to “wake up” and take a charge with no success!  He declared it officially dead!

So, in a matter of minutes, I was the proud owner of the only WHITE 32 MB iPhone 4 they had in stock – plus a hot pink case that clips to my waist band – plus a blue tooth device for talking and driving!  Problem, though………since my 3Gs is dead, they couldn’t get my contacts or photos or anything off it!!!  DANG – I’ve lost the photos of the helicopter at Lowes!!!  And I know I haven’t synced or backed up my phone in a while – not sure what was recently added that I may no longer have access to!  Luckily, I don’t store photos on the phone – I down load and delete them off the phone right away so there weren’t any photos lost – except the ones I took this morning – the really cool ones!!!

When I finished at the AT&T store, I got in the car and thought “while I’m here, I might as well…….”, but I stopped myself cold and said “oh no, you don’t – get out of here while you’re ahead!”  I returned to Sanford and made a bee-line up to Lowes to see if by chance the helicopter was still hard at work – no such luck!  So – unless you saw it for yourself, you’ll have to take my word for it — Lowes don’t need no stinking crane – they gots them a helicopter to do the job right!

And the good news?  All but two recent contacts (that I had jotted down, so was able to add back in) were replaced after I synced the new phone!  And I set up my blue tooth!  I’m good to go!  And I have my new iPhone 4!  I’ll probably be a little sad if the 5 comes out in September, as rumored, but I’ll live — I’m happy with my new iPhone!

So, R.I.P., dear sweet 3Gs – you were a good companion and loyal friend…..now, you’re gone and I’ve replaced you, but I won’t forget you – you never forget your first!!!