It all sounds lovely EL. Appropriate that you killed your phone. It needed to die.

"They" say, if your phone gets wet, the thing to do is to take out the battery immediately and to dry everything with a hair dryer. to get a new battery and all will be well the next day. Fail.

"They" just think they know it all!

The New York Times and USA Today, well there's the alpha and omega of print journalism.

Buying that combo of newspapers is a tad bit of a mismatch. It reminds of those bargin CD's you see in the bin a Wal-Mart where two bands that have no businesses being together are thrown together. It will be something like the Beatles on disc one and Leif Garrett on disc two.

Anyway, who wants to read a national newspaper when in a different place. I'd be reading the local Sewanee paper and finding out things I wouldn't get back home, such as the repaving of route 41 or why all the restaurants have closed or burned down.

The Sewanee Messenger (only comes out Thursdays) doesn't have any puzzles. Of course, it's a must read too. EL

RoCK wrote: I'd be reading the local Sewanee paper

If Sewanee is the way I imagine it to be, you don't need to read the newspaper. You already know everything that has happened in town. (Even if you did suck all the buttons off your cell phone with the vacuum.)

I've dropped three phones in the toilet (none in the wash yet). I saved one by removing the battery and putting the phone in a bag with a bunch of those silica gel desiccator, not edible thingies for a couple days.

I still went out and bought another phone, because I couldn't be without a phone for 3 days while it dried, but I wanted to see if it would work.

You want a Pre, anyway. Much better for e-mail and social networking stuff. Handles contacts much better than the iPhone.

Relax, have a great time, enjoy the fireworks. Hopefully, they won't burn down any of the bars in town.

That Adirondack chair with the missing slat looks a tad uncomfortable.

and now we know that a reservation for 4 on Thursday night for the De Rosset party will be Larger than expected.

Important food/tennis question: What will you be eating during Breakfast at Wimbledon?

Amazing what can fall into the toilet. Earlier this year I was running lights for a rock and roll revue. Singing, dancing, everyone wearing wireless mics. About halfway through I get a call on the intercom "Lisa's mic isn't working." I pass this on to the sound guy and his reaction was "How does she know? Did she drop it in the toilet?" Dead silence on the other end. We swapped her with someone else and dried the dunked mic out. Worked, too. I guess they're not as complicated as cell phones. Or the manufacturers build 'em to, as John Cameron Swayze would say, "Take a licking and keep on ticking."

RiE, I'd bet real money that those here under 50 have no idea who John Cameron Swayze was!

Did the others close because they didn't want to burn down. Or did the burned ones go up because they refused to close?
This has all the makings of a detective novel.
That or they knew you were coming and couldn't stand a little constructive criticism.

Oh, jl.
I like how you think.

I'm 44, and I remember the Timex commercials with John Cameron Swayze.

I can see it now...Margaret Maron writes the saga of the burned restaurants in Sewanee. Although, knowing this crew, Fannie Flagg or Rita Mae Brown might be better.

I think Laura Lee (who we were all convinced at one point was Laura Lippman) should take a stab at writing it. Working title: "I Ordered It Well-done, Dammit".

Prof McIntyre could edit.

For wet phone (or any electonica):
Remove the battery as soon as possible - your chances of success fall pretty quickly the longer wet phone and battery are connected.
Put the phone (without battery) in a bowl/bag of rice. Let it sit for a day or so - some people have luck with just a few hours, depends on how wet it is.
Reassemble.
Success!
Generally there is no need to buy a new battery.

I have resurrected many a device using this method.

Question: Did you know that if your cell phone is in your jeans and they go through the wash drying it out with a vacuum cleaner sucks the buttons off but does not dry it out enough for it to work?

Tossing it into the dryer - using the "Hey! Can't hurt!" method - also does not remedy the situation.

My blood pressure dropped 20 points just reading this.

Glad to hear that you are enjoying a slower pace for a change. As for the iPhone..I would have it surgically implanted, if I could. I've had no trouble with it and it has saved me (in a variety of ways) on server occasions in the last year.

Thanks, Bucky, but I think I'll leave the southern gothic in jl's capable investigative journalist hands. I'll start working on a subplot for our communal novel...

Meanwhile, back at the restaurant critic's hometown rag, the little blog that could was trying to hold together. Would the troops rally while their leader was off gallivanting amidst the luxurious appointments of a splintered back-woods porch, surrounded by the world's great literature, and playing lawn tennis (attired in that perky white miniskirt) with the rich and famous before settling down for late afternoon cocktails? How many more restaurants would fold before her return to this craven city?

Things were coming apart at the seams. The leading man was off-stage, meditating in his trailer, opening the door to no one but his hairstylist. Various stalwarts attempted to fill the gap, concocting clever commentary under a flurry of new monikers, the better to distract the conniving bean counters. The jovial neo-con continued with his arch observations, backed by a chorus of lyrical lesbians. And that old reliable character actor, St Nick himself, was on deck, frantically scribbling the final lines of his Friday post.

Poets drifted on-stage reciting soliloquies, prompting some in the audience to mutter, "Restaurants! We're here for the restaurants!"

"What do you think this is, a food blog?", retorted the poets.

"It's a Dinner Theatre!"

"Bread and butter!"

"Bread and circuses!"

"It's the Bread of Life."

Over in a corner, a small but deep crew of serious computer geeks was putting together an intrepid plan to triangulate and scramble all the URLs so that any and all comments could be channeled through one particular station in Little Italy. They could even generate randomly assigned names: Tom, Dick, and Harry. Manny, Moe, and Jack. Noxema, Maybelline, and Cover Girl.

The Men in Suits would be happy. The hoi polloi could post, comment, or lurk in peace (provided the blog site was accessible), and the restaurant critic could enjoy the remainder of her vacation sans phone, her only concern being to find an open restaurant.

Now, what's for dinner?

Point to Laura Lee! In fact, several points!

I'm continually in awe of you as well, Laura lee.

Goodness, Laura Lee, that reminds me of the beginning of "That Was the Week That Was." It certainly is worthy of a dinner!

You've got to love a place where the in-jokes have in-jokes and nicknames.

Love it, Laura Lee!

Laura Lee deserves an award for always posting something delightful, thoughtful and amusing.

Wow....all I can say, LL, is wow.

Laura Lee - that was really great. Hope to see more, and more often.

EL - sounds like perfect vacation, except for no places to eat out. Good excuse to grill a lot, though. Congrats on the future iphone - it seems you have been forced to get one now. :)

LL - laughing! really great!

Ooooo, Laura Lee, that was delicious

Laura Lee, I'm continually amazed at the grace of your prose! Good work, Lady!