fixing my phone

Anyone who's tried to call me within the last month or so will have heard of my cell phone troubles. All calls that I have picked up have involved an immediate and pause-free explanation from me that's gone something like this: "Hi _____, my phone is broken so I can't hear you. I'll call you back when I get to another phone. "

Since I wasn't sure if the problem was fixable, I thought briefly about buying a new phone, but was reluctant to do so. Maybe because I'm cheap, maybe because I actually prefer text-messaging to voice communication... either way, I survived about a month without a working phone.

But that has all changed! This evening, while running some errands in Shatin, I decided it wouldn't hurt to check to see if my phone was fixable. I wasn't sure what the prognosis would be, but even if it was good, I was expecting to be phoneless for at least a day or two. So you'll understand my surprise when at the first little phone store I checked at, the man told me that if I left my phone with him for 40 minutes and gave him HK$80 (about 10 bucks US), he could replace the speaker, and I would once again own a working phone! Wow. I took him up on it, and needless to say, I'm feeling quite silly for putting off for so long what was ultimately very easily fixed. Hopefully I've learned my lesson...