I had a quite unpleasant experience last Tuesday:
I drove to the Supermarket to get a few bits in the morning, and on returning I couldn't find my phone.
I did the old 'pat down' and 'search the obvious places routine' but I kind of knew what I'd done - I'd put it on the roof of the car when I was packing the shopping and then I left it on said roof and drove off.
So, nothing else to do but jump back in the car and drive (too quickly) back the supermarket, taking the last section slowly and scouring the road/ guttering in the hope that I'd spot it, not smashed!
No such luck, so I parked up, had a good hands and knees search around a wide area where I'd parked the car, and walked up the route I drove out of the car park a while: nothing.
In the supermarket, found someone who could speak English, made the 'has any one handed in a phone enquiry?'....
'No!'.
Did a second car park sweep, now kind of resigned to having lost it, nothing again, and drove back, annoyed with myself.
I started going through what I'd have to do next - cancel the day's planned brash clearance, drive to Fundao, buy a new phone, probably on a contract, contact my UK provider, get a new sim, change my Google password, get new bank cards (I 3 in the phone-wallet and a new Portuguese driving licence.
Quite a lot of work, at least a full day. Thankfully, I was just thinking, at least I had Samsung backup active, so that would save me a lot of time, and then I SAW IT.....
On the final corner turning off to my land, just laying on the pavement - cards strewn everywhere.
I pulled over, and it was FINE!
RELIEF!
Somehow it had stayed on the roof of my car for about 5Ks from the supermarket, back to that final turn off.
Kudos to its staying power - there are quite a few corners and in places I drive at 70 MPH and it's bumpy in some places too.
Lessons learned....
Firstly, I am TOTALLY dependent on my phone - I mean phone AND CARDS in one brick, and internet, some crypto wallets (all backed up but hassle to reinstall), authenticators, contacts, whatsapp, translate, the list just goes on!
I'm minded to get a second active device.
Secondly, don't leave your fucking phone on your car roof when you're packing your shopping!
I had thought to take a photo of my phone lying there on the road, but erm, my camera's also on the phone!
A normal day ensued after, albeit after an hour of going back to the supermarket and then a cup of tea to get over the trauma!
I've been trying to reach you... Now I know why you didn't answer your phone ;-)
Ahahah - Is that you responsible for all those calls from India I get?
Hahaha, India!?!? I'm the guy from the local call center ;-)
Quite the lucky break you caught there. I misplaced a bunch of keys last week and still haven't seen them. We're all dependent on our phones by the way, lol
It's scary, right!
Treble check all the time!
Dude!! That’s proper stressful. Kinda my nightmare.
So glad you found it. The relief must have felt magnificent though!
So that’s really got me thinking about the security of my stuff on this phone. Assuming it can’t be hacked without the passcode?
I guess a check list of first steps to do like change passwords and deactivate things is a good idea for the inevitable day when it happens to me 😬
The whole idea gives me a headache!
A checklist would be good! Actually I might do one myself so I at least know what I have to do IF I ever actually lose it.
It took me a 30 minute sit-down to get over the stress! Relief was intense, yes!
Amen. Been there, done that. A huge relief to find the phone on the roof where I left it.
I'm not the only one I know!
I did it with pastries the other day, thankfully I was only going from one place on the quinta to another and they survived, much to everyone else's surprise.
That was very lucky. I had to reset my phone recently and it was enough hassle getting everything set up again even after Google restored a fair bit. Always good to have a spare. You can possibly get a spare SIM too that you can transfer to. I bet you are considering the options now.
Stay safe and look after what is important.
!BEER
I will double check my back up codes for sure - a spare SIM is an interesting idea, I didn't even know that was possible.
I usually keep my last phone as my spare, but since I cracked the screen on the last one and it doesn't work, I'm now on my previous but one as a back up - I'm still holding out until November for a new one!
I am on Giffgaff and they will send you as many SIMs as you want to give to others or you can just log onto the site and get your account moved to a new one. Useful when you get a new phone that uses a different size SIM. We have a few old phones around that can be used in emergencies.
View or trade
BEER.Hey @revisesociology, here is a little bit of
BEERfrom @steevc for you. Enjoy it!Learn how to earn FREE BEER each day by staking your
BEER.