Tech Talk

I was all stressed out because my Beloved Mobile Phone refused to charge.

Given my horrendous inability to budget my own money (I am very responsible with family funds, but with my personal cash, my wallet is like a sieve), I was dreading the astronomical expense of having to buy new parts, a new battery, a new charger, or--worst of all, gasp--a new phone.

Unlike a lot of women, I'm actually pretty good with hardware and repairs--basically because my mother and I lived together on our own for many years; and if I hadn't figured out how to tinker with our perenially faulty fuse box, we'd have just had to survive in the dark for half my teenage life. Now, although Dean is responsible for sorting the tangled connections on both our computers as well as changing all our light bulbs (because he's the only one who can actually reach the damned ceiling!), I'm the one who installed the locks and knob on our front door; who hooks up various entertainment devices to the TV; who unclogs sinks and drains; who Sage persists in thinking of as She Who Can Resurrect Busted Toys (probably not in those words, though).

So I tried to resolve the phone problem myself: cleaning the contact points to the battery and charger, meticulously examining all the wires, chips, and whatnot I could manage to get access to without actually dismantling the entire phone. Finally, when all my efforts were met with zero success, I had to send the phone off to the Commercial Repair Folk, and damn the expense.

It cost me 15 pesos to purchase a new adaptor. Sometimes, solutions are simple, and right under your nose.