“But Jeff  it’s been outside for a year!”  “Yes, I can see that sir, you see here and here are the sensors and there are some signs of damage here at the edge.”  “Uh huh; ok Jeff lets start again.  I am not looking for a replacement IPhone, I just thought you and the rest of the Geniuses would like to know the story.” 

“You see it was February 3^rd 2010 when I made my last call”.  Jeff acknowledged this fact, as Jeff likes facts.  “I was loading orchard trimmings onto the burn pile while awaiting an important business call.”  Jeff was perplexed, why would an old farmer guy be making business calls and what’s a burn pile?  “Anyway”, I droned on, “at some point I realized that the phone was missing.”  

“Yes, Jeff I understand the feature that allows me to find my phone”.  My new phone has that feature.  “I would like you to focus Jeff on the fact that this phone in my hand spent nine months in the dirt, much of it under a burn pile.  It’s been run over by tractors and been within a few inches of a blazing fire.  On top of that it was sitting outside all through the wettest winter in a in decade”.  “Yes sir I can see that there is some water damage here and here; also the sim card won’t come out.”  

“Focus Jeff, all I require is your enthusiasm”.  “After I dug the dirt out of the port I was able to charge the phone (insert drumroll here)…and it works”  “Yes, sir it will make an excellent IPod for you, but I can’t remove the sim card and there is the matter of the water damage.”  I left Jeff to ponder facts and to fulfill his earnest desire to be helpful.  Now, I submit my story to you.  All I require is your enthusiasm.