Last week I made an idiotic mistake and dropped my BlackBerry Pearl in the vicious slush and rain of our Boston winter. I didn’t notice I had dropped it and proceed to leave it there for the next 3 hours.  It had slipped out of my pocket when I made the mad dash through freezing rain and snow to the safety of my apartment.  I didn’t use the phone that night and when I was ready to go to bed, realized that I didn’t know where it was.  I grabbed my umbrella and scampered out to my car in the rain. On my way there I noticed a shiny object on the ground next to the car door.  My heart sank. Sure enough the phone was off and dripping with water.  I figured I would have to wake up the next morning and buy a new phone (probably the iPhone, even though I love the Pearl), but on the suggestion from a friend took it apart and put it in a bowl of uncooked rice. The next morning, after brushing off the rice, I was amazed to find that the phone came back to life. The best part is that it’s not dropping e-mail, text and phone records from its memory like it had before its frigid swim.  Remember, when in doubt, put your water logged BlackBerry in dried rice after getting it wet. You have a chance of saving it.