just in case

Earlier this month, I told you about an episode where I managed to broadcast information on my telephone using solely the inside of my arm (steroidal pocket dialing). Look, Ma, no hands.

A couple of clever readers immediately saw the underlying problem. If I had a telephone case with a full cover, the whole incident could have been avoided.

As is often the case, I had omitted to include a pertient fact. My telephone case does have a cover -- and the incident should never have happened. Or, more accurately, I do have a case that had a cover.

Because I am particularly rough on electronics, I need a case with a cover to protect my telephone's screen. But, most cases with opaque covers are annoying. If I need to answer a call or merely to look at the time, I must flip open the cover.

I cannot remember which telephone it was (I think it was an HTC back in 2014), but I discovered a case that was perfect. The cover was perforated, and allowed the scren to show a limited amount of information without flipping it open.

When I graduated to the Samsung Galaxy S series, I discovered an even better case. The cover was clear plastic and allowed me to do almost everything on my telephone without opening the cover.

But there was a design flaw. At least, it was a design flaw for me -- and, perhaps, the humidity of Mexico. The cover remains a cover for only about six months. It then tears away from the rest of the case. That was why I was holding the telephone under my arm without a cover to protect it. And you all know the result of that.

My telephone is something of a rarity in these parts. So, it did not surprise me when I discovered none of the local shops carried a replacement. I had seen the case for sale at a kiosk in La Marina shopping center, but I had no idea when I would go to Manzanillo.

Fortunately, there is always Amazon. My usual shopping routine on Amazon is to look on both Amazon.com and Amazon.mx to see which site offers what I need. But The Pestilence has put paid to that option. The Amazon site informs me that shipping restrictions prohibit shipping products from The States to Mexico.

That announcement did not bother me, though, because Amazon.mx had just what I needed. I assumed Amazon would ship my case from some warehouse in Mexico.

I was wrong. When I tracked the package through DHL, it was shipped to Mexico from Kentucky. The same routing occurred with my Madrid tour book and is happening right now with some thumb drives that should arrive today. I have no idea why I cannot order them directly from The States, but logic seems to have been one of the first victims of this infection.

Frankly, I am just happy that I can get these products delivered to my doorstep by the ever-pleasant Fernando of DHL. It helps to enforce the myth that I am actually deep in self-isolation with a portion of the world. Solidarity is one of my better-hidden virtues.

And I can now keep my telephone in my pocket instead of sending the last thing on its screen to a group of people who will be completely uninterested in what I send them.

Wait a minute. That is the entire business model of Facebook, isn't it?