AT Day 101 - Houston we have a problem

25th July

0 miles

Earlybird’s House (1724.5)

I woke in the morning to the sounds of birds and and gentle rays of morning entering my bedroom window. I had no idea what time it was, did I sleep in till midday. I rolled out of bed to check my phone that was charging at the power outlet. It didn’t work. Then it coughed and spluttered with some flashes of white screen then rolled over and died.

My phone worked all day yesterday and even worked before I went to bed last night, but it was no more. It has been dying a slow death. The compass doesn’t work, neither does the camera and my recent problems with charging the phone went from bad to worse when a part of the internal section of the charger broke. My phone is dead after many faithful years of service to my adventurous lifestyle. In a desperate attempt to fix it I set it on the stove over the gas pilot light and placed it on a bag of rice. No good.

I was bummed to have to buy a new phone, specially as I’m trying to stretch my funds to last a couple more miles of hiking and exploring the best places on the planet. But it couldn’t of happened in a better place. Earlybird not only let me stay another day but shuttled me to Best Buy to purchase a new phone. There was only one problem, I would need to sign up to a plan and have my phone locked into one carrier. Not for me, I need an unlocked phone. I need a new plan.

Earlybird and I had lunch in an old style diner, complete with booths and overworked wait staff. We chatted and worked out a plan. I rarely make a rash decision. I prefer to carefully consider the options, then fully commit to a decision.

Back to Earlybird’s house to order the new phone direct from Apple. The new phone would be delivered to Hanover, New Hampshire, some 20 miles away, as a bonus there is no sales tax in that state. When I got the phone I’d seek out a coffee shop or the library to use the internet and transfer the data to my new phone.

With my new phone organised we spent the afternoon and evening watching YouTube hiking videos. My day off turned out to be a good day. Tomorrow, I’m back on trail but with no phone, no maps, no watch and no idea how far I’ll hike. Should be an adventure. Sorry for the lack of recent posts, with my new phone I’m playing catch up, stay tuned.