By Isle of Wight Observer
In April, on Friday 13, I was rushing around gathering building materials, because – unusually – my builder wanted an early start on Monday. I made numerous trips to Newport, but hadn’t quite got everything needed, so, around 5pm, I drove back again. It was too late for the merchants, so I headed to B&Q, grabbed some timber and loaded up the car. I was going out that evening, so I was rushing.
Once unloaded, I drove away and quickly noticed my phone was missing. I’ve been known to place it on window-sills, scaffolding, drainpipes, car roofs, all kinds of weird places. In my defence, I’m usually hoping to improve the signal. Fifty years ago, we spoke effortlessly to men on the moon; today, talking to another human via mobile remains challenging. You’d have more luck calling Martians.
I hunted high and low at the building site, before deciding I must’ve left it at B&Q. I rushed back there, but the staff didn’t have it.
Perhaps I’d failed to spot it at the building site? I drove back – but no luck.
Having survived a grim phoneless night, I presented myself to EE, first thing Saturday morning, and eventually bought a new iPhone and a cloned sim card. Unfortunately, when they tried reinstalling various apps, it proved impossible. The codes being sent via text kept going to my missing phone, not the new one. Stupidly, I’d kept my bank cards and driver’s licence with my mobile, which meant I had no phone, no ID and no means of payment.
Over the weekend, one of my kids caringly introduced me to the ‘find my phone’ feature, which gives a precise location of your phone’s whereabouts. Immediately I raced to an address in Wellow, banged frantically on the door and was greeted by someone I knew – but who didn’t have my phone.
Frankly, I was so deranged by then, if he’d been a stranger in some dump of a house, I might have barged in and torn the place apart. After all, the technology indicated it had to be there!
A few days later, my tech-savvy son zoomed in on the location once again, and I realised where I’d gone wrong. It wasn’t in the house; it was on the road outside. I returned and, within minutes, found it, lying there in the gutter.
Remarkably, it was still alive and the cards were untouched. New ones arrived some days later, replacing the ones I’d cancelled, and life returned to normal again. A lesson learned – or not!
Last week, I did exactly the same thing again. This time I’d been loading wooden posts at Mole Valley Country Store, drove off and realised the phone was gone. I had no idea where I’d left it, and this time, it wasn’t sending any helpful location signal.
Crestfallen, I returned to EE, where I learned I needed an appointment, and some ID and that thieves turn trackers off. Convinced I was the victim of theft, I went to the bank. To my surprise, no-one had used the cards.
I felt utterly foolish and incredibly sad. How had I managed to do such a dumb thing again? With no ID, it’s impossible to convince any organisation you really are you, and, frustratingly, verification codes get sent via text to a phone you no longer have.
A few days later, a nice man at WBS found it. Apparently while loading those wooden posts, I’d placed it on the car bonnet, and it later fell off. Several heavy lorries pulverised it. I’m now saving a fortune again while awaiting new bank cards.
Take my advice; don’t keep your phone and cards together, and if you need both hands loading something, place your phone inside your car, not on top of it.