If you only have a month to wait, grab a Moto G or another under-$200 smartphone and return it once the company phones come in.
Great idea thanks. Here is what came down.
Just for ish and giggles i called VerizScam for the predictable pathetic offer. Which oh-by-the-way would have included me typing by hand, one at a time all Contacts and Text transfers.

Then i had to go to Time Warner unrelated to phone. I asked the TW rep if she knew of a cell phone repair place. She said Radio Shack just two doors over had a cell phone repair rep. "Really!?" i said.

Check this: She kind of concluded phone may indeed be fixable but as Heath noted, it may just be on again/off again for the duration. So 'Shack offered me the exact same phone for only 20 bones and did ALL the data transfer (Contact, phone list, texts, the whole she-bang) included in the 20 price.

Done.

I am definitely writing Radio Shack corporate and propping employees and the arrangement they have.