It could happen to anyone…

Early Saturday morning my life was turned upside down; at least from a technological stand point. I dropped my cell phone to its demise. It couldn’t have happened at a worst time. I was running on 4 hours of sleep and had been up since 7 running errands. I was looking forward to spending the day poolside for a lovely birthday party at Hotel ZaZa to celebrate one of my best girlfriend’s 28th birthday, which I did. Although my mind was in a whirlwind for the rest of my weekend. I was unplugged and out of sorts but I can attest to the quote that “necessity is the mother of all invention”. I had to find other means to communicate with my connects. Resourcefulness  in my time of desperation!

Here’s how I survived:
1. Gmail can do everything your cellphone can do for you in the case of an emergency, assuming you have tapped into this resource.

• I can call my friends from my gmail (MAKE SURE YOU SAVE YOUR CONTACTs IN GMAIL, IT SAVED MY SANITY)
• I sent text messages through google chat
• Updated my twitter and Facebook all from with Google Buzz or tweetdeck

2. Landlines are worth keeping. Most people have switched to relying solely on cellphones but this weekend I was grateful to have a land line because I kept the phone in bed with me in case of emergency.

3. The people who need to get in touch with you will find a way to you. I could hear my phone sending me alerts but my screen was shot. Could you imagine the curiosity that was killing me?!

• As dramatic as I make it sound, I have survived almost 3 days without a cellphone and as long as you stick with a plan of action your people can find you.
• If you don’t use gmail, your carrier allows you to send text messages from their website to contacts which is another convenient tool when you’re in a bind.
• Sidenote- keep your living space clean cause you never know who might show up to look for the missing person.

4. If you are just not that interested or desperate for the outside world (like me) you can scratch all of the above and take a sabbatical. It may very well restore your sanity to not worry and just “take it light” as the islanders like to say. Unplug yourself from everything and everyone and have some ‘me’ time. RABDARGAB! Anyone remember that!? Ha!

I’m suppose to get my new cellphone tomorrow. Am I excited?! You bet your ass I am! I learned a few valuable lessons nonetheless.

1. Get a case for my phone
2. Brace yourself to have the plug pulled on you at anytime and be ready to roll with the punches
3. Get cellphone insurance
4. Memorize vital numbers. You know who needs to know where you are.
5. If I didn’t have my phone to distract me, I’d probably finish the 6 blogs I have waiting in the wings…

Cheers,
Liz