Ground Control to Major Tom

When the US space program was in full-flight in the 1960s, the country was absorbed by the thrill and fantasy of space exploration. You know, final frontier and all of that?

Though excitement was the standard response, there were plenty of grim thoughts floating around, too. What happens if they get stuck up there? They'll be doomed to orbit in icy silence — a perpetual satellite commemorating a worst-case scenario. They'll transmit signals until batteries fail and then ... silence.

David Bowie's "Space Oddity" — released on the eve of the 1969 moon landing — made note of that possibility:

"Ground Control to Major Tom
your circuit's dead, there's something wrong.
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear?"

Yesterday, my phone started sending out distress signals of its own. I was using the web browser and it quite suddenly flashed white and then tried to reboot — over and over. It ended up in a death spiral of sorts, trying and trying to right itself.

And then it just stopped.

It's never been dropped (from too high, at least), never been wet. Just normal, everyday use. Unlike a lot of claims we get at the store of "just riding around," this phone doesn't have the electronic equivalent of trashed wheels and a bent frame. It just stopped working.

I took it to US Cellular, where the technicians poked and prodded and determined it was a lost cause. It wouldn't accept the new system software install. Instead, it just sat there — transmitting until the battery wore down.

We're out of warranty for the device itself. We're two weeks away from the "early upgrade" period, which would be good if we wanted to sign a new two-year contract. And given the problems within Research In Motion (BlackBerry's parent company) — and the sudden, stupid failure of this phone — I don't want another one. Android doesn't interest me even a little bit.

So today's task, while being surrounded in a technological semi-blackout, is figuring out what comes next. I have a six-year-old flip phone that can be resurrected, which may be the only option. We don't have the money to buy out the contract and go elsewhere. Though we'd both love iPhones, we don't have the money to get them even if we could get out of the contract. And then there's the monthly issue of a more expensive contract.

In short, things are tight. That happens sometimes. It would be good if it didn't happen all at once, though.