Up and Running

In case you ever lose a cell phone you should remember this tidbit: technology has reached the point where missing cell phones, especially those with GPS built in, can indeed be located. There is something called triangulation, that requires the use of three cell phone towers. What was lost can be found but, of course, at the present time, there is a catch. Right now, triangulation requires a court order unless the missing phone is a matter of national security.

Mine clearly was not, so after canceling the original service so the lost phone would not be of any use to anyone else, except for its parts, which presumably could be sold on e-bay, I bit the bullet and bought a new one. An expensive bullet to be sure, but once you have embraced what's possible in terms of the i-phone, it really is hard to go backwards and settle for a phone (which I did contemplate when I found out I was eligible for a free upgrade that does not, of course, apply to i-phones).

Anyway, the point is I'm back in business and all is right with the world.

The moral of the story? Actually it's a pretty scary one in terms of how dependent I am on technology to hold all the pieces of my life together. But it turns out that I am not the one to whom this cell phone mattered the most.

In fact, once I got past the original "Oh, my God, I've lost an appendage," mode (which took about 12 hours), I was sort of getting used to not being "on call" 24/7. It turns out those who place those calls were not.

As I was literally setting up the new phone, syncing it with the mercifully saved data on the computer, it rang twice. The first call was from my husband, relieved to find me "back in business." The second was my son, delighted he could once again call me on my cell phone.

The moral may in fact be my husband's comments that my loss of cell phone had less to do with worry on my family's part that I was OK and more to do with their ability to find me when they needed something.

Hmmmmm.....I could always forget to turn it on.