Bummer

I mentioned yesterday that I am currently without a cell phone. I am also without sunglasses, gloves, a wallet, credit cards, checkbook, license, make-up, my Kindle (huge sniff) and oh yeah, my purse. Yep, my purse got lost/stolen on Saturday night.

You may remember that I left it in the shopping basket about a year ago and had it returned to me. This time it was not returned. This time I was only gone from the store for 2 minutes before I noticed and the store was pretty empty so I didn't even panic. I was sure it would still be there. No such luck. Strangely enough I didn't panic this time, but somehow I also knew it wouldn't have the same ending as it did last time.

I went home and tried to call Seth but he was at a church activity in Milwaukee and couldn't hear the phone. I called my cell phone a million times but no one answered. It was still ringing so I knew the phone was still on. When Seth finally got out to his car he called AT&T and they tracked my phone within 17 yards. We called the police. We figured they wouldn't care since I left it, at least we think that is what happened. I have gotten really careful about double checking the cart so it may have been taken while I was trying to get the kids away from Redbox and out of the store. But the police told me that even if I left it, it is a crime to take something that does not belong to you, especially when there were multiple ways to identify the owner. So for those who think you can keep something because you "found it", you are wrong. Finding is stealing!

So...they sent an officer to my house. I live on the border between two cities, and both departments had to get involved because my stuff was taken in one location and ended up in another. They filed a report and then went to look for my stuff. There were 3 houses and a cornfield on the street where my phone was tracked. They didn't knock at the houses, just looked around and of course found nothing. They think it probably got chucked out in to the field but I am not so sure because we sent a text letting them know that we knew where they were and after that my calls went straight to voicemail so I think someone had it and turned it off when they knew they had been traced.

Doesn't matter, the end is still the same. I am not getting my stuff back. So I canceled everything and I also had to change EVERY password because with a smartphone they could access all my accounts, google, hotmail, amazon...

I am not pumped about losing hundreds of dollars worth of stuff but that is all replaceable. It is having creeps with my info that is unnerving. I shut down my phone but all my personal info is still on it. Apparently there is an app that will wipe everything off the phone if it is stolen, but you have to have the phone to add the app. So, if you have a smartphone and don't want your pictures, calendars, etc., passed on to some thief, get the app.  I will next time.

So that is the saga of the lost phone. What's funny is that I always hear people trashing on Walmart and the "people of Walmart", but when I lost my purse at Walmart it was brought to my house. When I lost it at the most overpriced grocery store in town, someone grabbed it, and the neighborhood it ended up in was a nice neighborhood, too. There are honest people everywhere and dishonest people everywhere. It is not the way that someone looks, dresses or where they shop that make up who they are as a person, it is their character. It amazes me that anyone could look in a purse and see the person's ID, home#, their pictures and not feel sickeningly guilty about taking it. My conscience would eat me for dinner.

But I really haven't freaked out and there were a couple of positive notes, so I will end with those. One, my phone was insured against loss or damage for 20 months and we are still within that window so I will get a new phone later this week. Two, I had $125 in Discover gift cards in my wallet that I kept forgetting to use and I used them Saturday morning to get a warm, dog walking coat for half off at the North Face outlet. The line was long so I almost left but if I had, I would not have had my gift cards anymore when I went back. And lastly, Seth told me that birthday shopping just got a lot easier so I am pretty sure I will not be without a Kindle for long. I love paper books and still read on paper about half of the time, but I get headaches because I am so blind and I can read so much faster with the giant font that I use on the Kindle. So those are my happy thoughts, and I have a birthday party to plan this week and you know that always makes me happy.