it's still ben bybee's fault.

remember ben bybee? and remember how the world's worst december was all his fault?

well, it all still is.

today's trip started out great with a diet coke at our favorite c-store... with 38 japanese tourists, even. you know, the ones en route between the hoover dam and zion nat'l park. added bonus: they all had medical masks on - to protect themselves from that pesky swine flu that swept the nation TWO YEARS AGO.

i can't make this stuff up.

but then..... today's meetings brought me a frozen, factory reset, app-less, contact-less bust of a phone.

st. george is my technology curse.

HOW DOES IT HAPPEN?!

i mean, it's not a hard drive crash, but practically.

when you have a phone that's a phone for the sake of dialing a phone number, it's not that big of a deal. you, like, change your ringtone from the standard nokia tone to something more exotic - like, say, "calypso" - and maaaaybe reset your morning alarm.

but when you have a phone that tells you when you bills are due and when to take your vitamins and it all goes away? your life is wiped clean. it's like resetting your life.... with 837 options and settings to rebuild. it's just a really big hassle.

i'm not being dramatic, am i?

the mental anguish of trying to fix it was as almost as painful as learning i lost my identity.

picture this:

an off-road ride through the red rock in the rental car

i'm on the boss' phone, speaking with edgar, a "level ii technician"

who recommends i make a back up of whatever i haven't already lost before we reset it entirely.

i set up shop in the front seat: full laptop and usb cord situation.

all the while, andy is "yeeeeehaw-ing" and boyd is giggling in the back seat like we're in california adventure and he just got the high score on the woody and buzz ride.

and edgar can hear everything.

we're hopping the red rocks and the laptop is flying.

and then the call drops.

and andy keeps heading for the hills.

so i wait.
wait for andy to get the off-road/man behind the wheel bug out of his system

and i dial again.

"para espanol, marque el numero dos"

10 digit telephone number

last four of the social

hold music.

the obligatory story that gets me back to an edgar-esque technician.

and the whole thing happens again.
{after connecting to lashonda}

and so i do it again. and it disconnects AGAIN.
{while talking to the most helpful of them all, cynthia.}

st george is the bermuda triangle of cell coverage.

there's not a single road or gas station parking lot in the whole city that gives me full service on both at&t phone i'm talking on AND verizon wireless phone i'm trying to bring back to life.

an no offense to the boss andy who will, no doubt, be reading this at home with his family {because it's such a comical story} but all the "yeeeeehaw's" and the "see, it's a good thing she dropped that first call.... this one sounds like she knows more" whispers to boyd in the back seat every time i talked to someone new and the "i tell my kids to put down the technology and live in the moment" dad advice did not help and may have contributed to the following two hour silent treatment we all experienced.

what did i ever do to st. george to bring all this hate on?