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I think my iPhone has been delivered a death blow.  I'm not exactly sure what happened but over the last week and a half, the phone has been restarting on its own, shutting down, having spontaneous blue and/or striped screens and, in general, circling the toilet.  Yesterday, the phone died. Well, there are some agonal respirations right now but I don't think the prognosis is good.  I've tried to restore it to factory settings and get to varying points in the process but invariably, the screen turns blue and error 009 comes up.  I have Googled this problem quite a bit and it mostly focuses on when people inadvertently ruin the motherboard by screwing the wrong screws into the wrong holes while changing an iPhone screen.  I do have a cracked screen but have not changed the screen so I think it's a hardware issue that may not be recoverable.  I'm going to send my iPhone to the corner for a few days and let it think about whether or not it wants to play nicely with me.  If not, then I'm not sure.  Throw in the towel?  Take it to a pro?  Buy a garakei?

Wait, what's a garakei?  I learned the word today from the Japanese doctor who was shadowing me in clinic and I think it's super clever.  The following excerpt explains it best...

Japan kept making cell-phone that weren’t compatible with the rest of the world and only worked well within the confines of Japan. The development of Japanese cell-phone and mobile technology has been compared to the evolution of life on the very isolated Galapagos Islands. Nowadays, Japan-made flip open old-fashioned cell-phones are referred to as gara-kei. It’s short for Galapagos + keitaidenwa (携帯電話/cell-phones). It’s also verbal short-hand for saying “a cheap, uncool and out of date mobile phone.”

Isn't that funny?  What an awesome word!  I love it when languages have their own idiosyncratic words that is perfect for their culture.  Oh Japan, I will miss you.  On a related note, 6 more months in Japan!