Let’s try to calculate 2 miles worth of gas…

Hi there,

So I’m not perfect. If I’ve ever lead you to believe that I am, let’s clear it up now. I make mistakes. I think that most of the time I live a life that’s pretty spot on, but heck I’m only human like the rest of us.

I was driving my 2014 Toyota Tundra and snapped this picture – of course I knew I was getting close to needing gas on my way into work:

2 miles. This is when I started to sweat, I haven’t done this since I was 16. I had about 2 miles to the gas station so I put it into “super-gas-sipping-mode” where I dropped my speed and tried to time the stop lights so I didn’t come to a complete stop.

So since my truck gets a measly 15 MPG, and if the price of a gallon of gas is at about $2.20, that 2 miles worth had a value of about $.29 worth of fuel I was running on. I love living life on the edge I guess.

To tell the truth, I’m normally a “keep the tank at least half full at all times” kind of guy, but life got in the way and I took the risk.

The big question is: “Did I make it without running out of gas?”

Yes I did – I coasted right into pump #6. I got in there and filled up and and even snagged a cup of coffee while I was at it. Yes, I’m also a “need a cup of coffee in the morning” kind of guy as well.

To all those that like to live dangerously, nothing gets your adrenaline up like getting down to $.29 of gas. Give it a try sometime – or don’t 😉

Vroom-vroom. Ryan

People are really making counterfeit iPhones?

Yes, we’ve seen counterfeit – fake – iPhones come into Mission Repair for service. It never works out.

Unfortunately, bogus iPhones aren’t always so obvious. Sometimes they appear in seemingly legit online ads or real-world stores (NEVER at Mission Repair!) Regardless of where they appear, they’re out there, and the people who buy them are being ripped off.

Just how many fake iPhones are being sold in the U.S. is actually hard to pin down. Apple won’t discuss the issue, despite repeated requests for information. Anti-counterfeiting watchdog groups say the problem is big, but they don’t have numbers.

But the anecdotal evidence is there: There was the recent seizure of more than 40,000 counterfeit iPhones in China. Sales of the fakes are not uncommon overseas. Among those who have been caught peddling fake phones stateside recently are a father-son duo in Orange County, Calif.; a teen in Utah; and two stores in a Maryland mall.

Fake iPhones are just part of a much larger counterfeit-electronics problem.

“Counterfeit consumer electronics were the second-most-seized commodity in fiscal years 2013 and 2014, with an estimated MSRP (retail price) of around $145.86 million and $162.20 million, respectively,” said Matthew Bourke, spokesperson for the Intellectual Property Rights Center at Immigration and Customs Enforcement. And remember: Those numbers represent just seizures, not the real volume of counterfeit goods being sold, which everyone involved assumes is much higher.

However big the problem is, what should you do when that guy slides up to you at the bar and offers you a great deal on a phone for cash — or if you’re looking at what you think is an iPhone on sale?

Do yourself a favor, don’t buy it. While it may be a good deal, and it could quite possibly be legitimate, it’s most likely going to cost you big time in the near future. Fake iPhones are not repairable…like at all. We can’t get parts for them at Mission Repair, and we have no idea who even made them. Or worse yet, the phone is real, but let’s say it crashes after 15 minutes of use after it warms up. We see this a lot…and you’d never know what kind of odd issues that piece of electronics is having without knowing it’s origin. Buyer beware, and we’re just here trying to help you out.

Good luck, Ryan

When is a good time to get your iPhone fixed?

Hello there, I get this question from customers all the time:

“It’s cracked, but it still works. Should I get it done now or wait?”

Take this iPod Touch in the picture above for example…this is the epitome of “cracked”. Most of these units that we receive are not this bad; but of course some are. Most of the time, the LCD even works under the cracked glass, and even the digitizer might work (the touch function) which makes it compelling to just used a damaged device for a while.

The problem is that the cracks can get worse. Just like the small chip that started when a rock hit your windshield and now has “grown” across the the length of your vision, the cracks in the glass on an iPhone can get worse over time. And when they get worse, the more potential for internal damage is likely to happen.

Just imagine if you spilled a drop of coffee on the iPod in the picture above. Let’s say near the home button at the top of the picture; it will seep into the unit and would most certainly begin to corrode and would most likely eventually cause more damage.

Remember, liquid + electronics = bad news.

If the glass is whole and not broken, that drop of coffee would just simply wipe off and no harm would be done. The cracks like in the unit above also pose a safety risk to the user. Glass is clearly falling out of the front panel and can easily end up in food, drinks, your eye, fingers, or on the floor for your baby niece to find the next time she crawls in that same area.

When should you have that cracked glass replaced? Do it now before it costs you more than you expected and/or causes you some physical harm.

Take care, Ryan