Training: Boot Camp

Some people only managed to do three phones all day today. I went and
grabbed my SIXTH...

And it turned out to be the phone of the damned.

I open the package, and the front of the phone is missing, the LCD is
sitting there unconnected and scratched all to heck. I shift it and
look at the rest of the phone, and a few possible system notes occur
to me: 'phone should not be taken on deployment', maybe, or 'this
model should not be connected to explosive devices'. The thing is a
dirty ruin. So I talk to the Brand technical manager; "Just BER it,"
he says, meaning "throw the flipping thing out as Beyond Economical
Repair". But we have a couple of BER checkers, who help keep us
consistent through the 'grey areas' of damage; the BER checker says
maybe the board is still good. "...you figure?" I say, highly
skeptical. "I'll give it a try."

Two and a half hours later, I have:
- had to ask Pawol to solder a new bit onto the board
- kept two parts of the phone, and replaced thirteen (not counting the
seven screws I replaced three times) (and one of the parts I didn't
replace was 'not very good', but non-critical)
- reopened the little fucker three times to make adjustments
- cleaned a pile of grit that could be bits of tobacco or something
off the board
- learned how to clean sticky stuff off a board correctly
- discovered what I SWEAR is dried toothpaste in the mic, and replaced that too
- switched the coaxial cable around so it'd stay connected

...and the damned thing works perfectly now! Last fix of the day.

But I'm pretty sure it was still BER.