by contributor Maria Lucas

Hi, I'm an iPhone addict.  I love those darn things.  The accessibility of e-mails, weather at my fingertips, pinterest, being able to send pics of all our quirky adventures, maps!, those apps that are just so handy and, of course, texting.  This addiction comes at a cost though...

Like the fact that when my kids draw pictures of me now, I am always holding my iPhone.

Or the fact that I'm on my third, yes, THIRD iPhone in under a year.  Here's how my iPhones usually look...

...ouch right?  And I wish I could pass the blame on to my two little iPhone monsters, but, no, it's me.  Me and concrete.  Every time.  Concrete.

And every time, I have to pay my insurance company like $120 to send me a new one.  It's a total hassle.  I have to remember my Verizon password, know what my iPhone purchase date is (and do they mean my first one or the last one they just sent me?), what kind of iPhone it is, what my phone's serial number is... remember where I left the paperwork for who even handles my insurance... oh the agony.   Then, one day, I opened my Front Porch and there he was...

Stapleton Dad and fellow East Bridger, Ben.  God love you Mr. iRepairDoc Ben.

It's brilliant.  Not only can they fix my iPhone but they come to my house to do it.  There is no waiting for one in the mail.  No transferring phone information via iTunes.  No calling Verizon to activate and having to remember my password again!  Presto - a perfect iPhone done in less than hour and for less than my insurance was charging.

Where have you been, Ben?  What took you so long?  Anyway, I'm just glad you're here.

[your can read all about how Ben thought this up in April's Front Porch - but this is about me, not them.]

I called and made my appointment.  And looked what showed up....

...cute right?  And one of Ben's colleagues, Kyle hooked me UP.  The only scary part was seeing my phone in pieces....

Kyle was courteous, sweet, understanding.  I told him I thought this whole idea was amazing and Kyle agreed saying, "It's always the little things."  Kyle told me he looked at cracked iPhones all day while working in an Apple store and never thought of it.

So, I got a few tips out of Kyle. 

1) Forget the insurance.  Stop paying it.  It's a rip-off. 

Find out why on their blog: http://www.irepairdoc.com/blog/1.

2) You don't want your iPhone to crack?  Get an OtterBox, LifeProof or Ballistic to protect your phone.

But, as Kyle points out... these cases make the iPhone a little less accessible which is why we love them in the first place... and it's still not a 100% guarantee.

3) And, he said this nicely, "Try to be deliberate about minimizing the risk of breaking them."  Or, "Lady, stop handling your iPhone when walking down the street on CONCRETE.... FIND A POCKET!" My words, not his.

And here is the result.  Ahhhhhh...

If your iPhone is on crack.  Call them.  Support them.  I know I will (I just hope not soon).

iRepairDoc

720-308-2145

Or check them out on-line at:

http://www.irepairdoc.com/