alrighty then

not a good day so far.

- Update -

I’ve been using the BlackBerry for two days now so today I wanted to clear the data and set it up for someone else. I used the desktop utility to do that…no big deal. Unfortunately I left the Desktop Redirector running so Outlook was still sending mail to it. I saw this and thought the data clear just didn’t work. so I tried again. This time entering the wrong password 10 times on purpose which also wipes it out (in case it gets stolen). Then I reseated the battery and turned it back on….STOP, DO NOT PASS GO, DO NOT COLLECT $200. The dang thing wouldn’t boot at all, just a white screen with error 503 on it. I call Cingular and the following conversation ensues:

Clueless Wonder Phone Rep #1 (CWPR): Can I have the # you’re calling about?
Me: 310-xxx-xxxx
CWPR: And the name on the account?
Me: :insert female boss’ name that is clearly not me no matter how white I sound.
CWPR: can I have the tax ID # on the account
Me: no clue whatsoever. I am the IT person for the company
CWPR: long pause…..okay, I don’t need that to help you. What’s the problem?
Me: I tried clearing the data on the BlackBerry to set it up for a new user. After reseating the battery it wouldn’t power back on.
CWPR: long pause again while CWPR undoubtedly reaches for the hidden button alerting security this negro stole the phone and just wants to put his info in it….Our computers are down so I can’t really..like….do anything. Did you try reseating the battery?
Me: Yes, but I will do it again….I do to the same result
CWPR: I believe you “kinda like sorta fried the SIM card maybe”. You’ll have to send it back so we can give you another one, which will take 3-5 days.
Me: You don’t sound very sure of yourself. Is there a way you contact the phone remotely and see if it’s really dead? (Call the damn number using them gizmos ya got over there, biatch)
CWPR: Without software we won’t be able to contact it. You’ll need to send it back.
Me: GRRRRRRRRRRRRR……..they don’t call me Dial_tone for nuttin.

So I have just killed our new $300 phone. Boss comes from lunch expecting a demo of the phone with her data in it. I explain the situation making it sound less critical than I think it is. A few minutes later I call back and get someone who sounds just like CWPR. Not talking to her again…wouldn’t be prudent…not at this juncture. I hang up and call back again.

This time I get Habib. He tells me to just reinstall the software via the USB cable. I didn’t try this before because I figured the software talked to the device at the application level and since the OS is gone that won’t work. Well I was wrong and it did work. In removing the data I removed everything, even the OS so reversing the process worked fine. She’s probably sitting at home surfing on it right now.