how i lost my iphone

canon digital rebel xsi

Yesterday I lost my iPhone. I have never lost a cell phone before. My husband, yes; me, no. He has actually gotten all but one back. This includes phones lost in NYC and Las Vegas taxi cabs, and even one lost on BART.

We were on our way to catch the hotel shuttle to Disneyland. I remember rushing around the room, and putting my iPhone in the top pouch of my camera bag. I also remember thinking that it wasn't very secure, but I could fix it when we got to the shuttle.

As it turned out, all that rushing was for nought. We missed the shuttle. That meant we had a half hour to wait. We checked out the deli off the lobby, but decided we would just wait on breakfast. B wanted to go to the room to get something, and I decided to stay in the lobby.

They had some computers set up, and I thought I would check my email. I sat down, and there are signs all over the place saying, "no one under 18 allowed to use the computers". Of course sitting next to me was someone clearly under 18 using the computer. I think it is a bit lame myself, but was a bit miffed as I could not remember our room number, so could not log on. That's when I decided to pull out my iPhone. That's also when I realized it was not there.

I headed to the elevator to check upstairs. B was getting off as I got there. I explained what had happened, and we headed upstairs together. The maid was already in the room, bed made. Apparently B had given her quite a scare when he returned to the room (she must have been waiting for us to leave). I checked on the couch, but couldn't find it. We tried calling it, but no luck.

We checked at the front desk on our way out, but of course it hadn't been turned in. I retraced my steps, but didn't find it. Rather than dwell on it, we caught the next shuttle, and had breakfast at Downtown Disney. We tried calling and texting the phone. At this point, the calls were going directly to voice mail.

We went back to the hotel for a break in the afternoon and pulled the room apart. We looked in the sheets, under the bed, in the couch, and in all of our bags and drawers. We checked at the front desk, and honestly was a bit disappointed with their response - do you need a phone to call it. When I thought it might have ended in the laundry, B called down, and they called the laundry, but found nothing.

B had realized that since I had MobileMe, I might be able to locate the iPhone that way. Unfortunately, I had not set it up. I felt beyond stupid. Of course, if the iPhone ended up in a commercial washing machine, it wouldn't matter. The good news is I did back up the phone before we left for the weekend. If you have MobileMe & and iPhone - go to their site right now, and make sure it is set up. The feature is very cool - if you have it set up right BEFORE you lose your phone. It can even play a sound for 2 minutes if you know it is say, in your house somewhere - even if you have the phone set to silent.

After dinner, and while waiting for the Monorail, B called AT&T to report the phone missing. He learned that I have about six weeks before I am eligible for an upgrade. We still had no idea though if the phone had been used or not. My MobileMe renews in about 5 weeks.

When we got back to the hotel for the night, I checked in at the front desk again. I explained in detail what had happened, and how I was 99.9% sure the phone was still in the hotel. They checked in their lost & found, but there was nothing. Again, I noted that I thought it might have accidently been sent to the laundry with the sheets. He told me that it was highly doubtful since the staff is trained to check carefully. Only problem with his theory is that when we first arrived at the hotel waiting in our room for us was a bottle of water, capped, but about 1/3 empty with a sign on it noting its price. How careful is that? He promised to call the laundry, but didn't follow up with us.

We of course checked again in the morning after a terrible night next to a room of partying pot smokers (another post), and were told that nothing had been turned in. B sent an email to the hotel manager. We shall see what happens. At this point we have gone to the AT&T store and replaced the SIM card. I am using my old RAZR - it feels so light!



on the night stand :: This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper.

in like a lion - out like a lamb

canon digital rebel xsi

Am feeling a bit overwhelmed these days. Maybe I listen to too much NPR? Or maybe I should stop watching the 11 o'clock news: I find myself yelling at the TV - how is that news? - most nights, so it is probably time.

How did it get to be the last day of March? How can I have turned another year older? How can my sister be gone for five years? How can I be married for almost two months (and not sent out announcements)?

Hmmmm....maybe this stress thing is starting to make sense.

Meanwhile I feel like John the Baptist, a lone evangelist, out in the wilds of the book publishing industry, trying to promote a book by a group of P&G alumni who live in Europe. Amazon keeps selling out of the darn thing, although I can't take credit for it entirely. It's about changing the rules of business to win. Check it out.

Tonight I am off to a Social Media event. Should be interesting. Hoping to use new iPhone Bump application by some clever Booth students.


on the night stand :: The Impossible Advantage

got the whole world in my hands

The short version is that shortly after 6pm on Sunday we walked out of the Apple Store with two new iPhones. Yay!

I wish I could say it was easy. After our disappointing trip to the AT&T store on Friday, we didn't venture out on Saturday. B had called around and all indications were we would have come up empty handed.

On Sunday we headed over to the library. The Newport Beach Library recently upgraded its system, but in the process our books were due on weird dates. After checking out more books, we decided to grab a bite to eat at Lee's Sandwiches. After a late lunch B brought up the topic of the iPhone. Should we try the AT&T Stores in the OC?

I told him to call before we went searching aimlessly. He did, and learned that the AT&T Stores were sold out in the greater LA/Orange County area. It was suggested that we try the Apple Store. Apparently they could now handle current AT&T customers, even if they were looking to upgrade a current phone.

A call to the store in Fashion Island revealed that while they had iPhones in stock, they were closing within the hour, and had closed the line. Bummer.

On a whim we decided to just drive over to South Coast. They were still letting people in line. We were told it would take about an hour, but we got inside within 20 minutes.

It didn't matter what you wanted at the Apple Store, you had to wait in line. This upset a few people. Apparently at one point there were two lines (one for iPhone and one for everything else), but people lied. Crazy.

The really great thing was that once you entered the store, you had your own personal shopper. We basically told Matt what we wanted and he got it for us. So far, everything was going great!

The Apple Store no longer has cash registers. Instead they have a device slightly larger than a cell phone that can scan bar codes and swipe credit cards. The three bar codes necessary for the first iPhone were scanned and then we ran into a problem. B had interned at Motorola three summers ago. As such, he was given a discount at AT&T. This caused a problem. The solution seemed simple enough - dial 611 and get AT&T to take the discount off the account.

B managed to get through and the customer service rep claimed to have taken the discount off his account. Apparently not so.

Matt tried again, but the code was still blocking him from completing the transaction. He went and got the store's iPhone and called AT&T himself. He entered our phone number and pushed several menu buttons only to reach a recording telling him to call back later.

This is when we all stood there realizing we were not going to be able to buy the iPhones. Despite being loyal Apple customers and AT&T customers with money in hand, we were going to be turned away despite jumping over all these hoops. I didn't even mention that technically B works for Apple's second largest corporate customer. I was dreading having to deal with B all night.

But Matt didn't let us down. He was scheduled to end his shift at 6pm, and told us he would try AT&T again before that. In the meantime, he let us browse the store. We looked at cases and almost bought something called the Rockstar. It allows you and four friends to listen to your iPod together. We then moved over to software and Matt found us again. He managed to get AT&T on the line.

B answered the questions and we kept AT&T on the line until Matt was sure that the hold was lifted. In a few minutes we were a few hundred dollars poorer and on our way! Tomorrow I'll be sending off a glowing letter to Matt's boss. He really went above and beyond and saved our weekend.

I am still getting used to it. Our new plan with extra minutes won't begin until August. Our overage last month cost us just shy of $100. We need to be extra careful for the next 25 days. Too bad Skype doesn't work on the iPhone. That would be awesome.

on the night stand :: Her Last Death

we have no bananas today

Our mission to obtain an iPhone was unsuccessful. I was up until 6am, and then gave out. The neighbors were making a lot of noise doing yard work, which didn't help my sleep. We ended up arriving at the AT&T Store a little after 10am. There was still a line of about 50 people.

There was a rep from the store telling people they were out of the larger black iPhone, and down to less than 25 of the other two models. It didn't look good for us. We waited around for a bit and when the rep came back with a new update, decided we were just wasting our time.

B called another AT&T Store, but they were already sold out. We will try again in the morning. It was not a fun day.

on the night stand :: Happy Family: A Novel

the wait is almost over

The plan is to go to an AT&T store first thing in the morning. I suspect many people will go this route over the Apple Store as in order to get the price that has been broadcast, you need to be a current customer, eligible for an upgrade. Guess who becomes eligible for an upgrade on July 11, 2008? Not me. My phone is from the stone age at this point. Of course it is B.

That boy is very lucky when it comes to cell phones. He once left one in a taxi in New York City (after leaving his laptop at a gas station), and got it back before we could get through to customer service to report it lost (he also got his laptop back). But I think his previous best luck occurred when we were leaving Austin.

In packing up his stuff he found the receipt for his old phone. He had paid extra for the extended warranty. It literally had hours left on it. The phone had a broken antennae, which of course, wasn't covered, but he headed to BestBuy with me in tow as a break from packing. The sales person explained that the antennae wasn't covered, but asked him what else was wrong with the phone. B rattled off a couple of more issues and the sales guy was all 'let's get you a new phone'.

It gets better. Even back then cell phones changed more quickly than fashion. So of course the model he had was no longer available. The new model was not only on sale, but came with a rebate! So B walked out the door with a brand new phone and the form he needed to fill out to get money back. I think it was $25. Not bad for a few minutes work.

Hopefully things won't be too crazy tomorrow. I have heard that people started lining up days ago. Why?

We still both have Chicago phone numbers and don't plan on changing them. I suspect that may makes things interesting, but we are going to a real AT&T Store, and no a reseller. Reportedly the resellers don't have them anyway.

B doesn't like to wait. He is not good at it at all. And I suspect there are going to unhappy people who aren't as lucky as B and who are going to be told that they need to fork over a lot more money than they expected, if they want to walk out the door with a new phone.

I spent part of the day trying to sync my paper address book with my Mac Address Book. I didn't come close, but I tried. There were some entries on my current phone that I could not place so I deleted them. I also deleted the dead people and the businesses I no longer patronize. I also soaked my feet.

Stay tuned.

on the night stand :: The Art of Wall.E

where will you be on july 11

Many people, myself (likely) included, will be in line to buy a new iphone. When the iphone came out, B was still technically between jobs. It wasn't clear what was going to happen, and there was always the possibility that his new employer might have specific cell phone requirements, and might even provide him with one. So we agreed to wait until the next version came out.

It has been a long wait. In the meantime B's brother-in-law got an iphone. Don't get me wrong, B has nothing against his brother-in-law - it is just that he is usually the last kid on the block with new gadget, if you know what I mean.

I reminded B that it is he who laughs last.... Thankfully he stuck it out. I know there are a lot of unhappy people who waited in long lines and shelled out $600. Brian Unger is one of them (you have to LISTEN to this to get the full effect).

I still have my Chicago phone number. So does B. They are one number off each other, and I have remembered both, so I have been reluctant to change. We wouldn't have to switch carriers. I know though that there can be issues trying to keep a number that is out of area. I think we just need to make sure to go to an actual AT&T store and not a reseller - never go to a reseller.

on the night stand :: Snack Time

can you hear it

B made sure to log on for the keynote at WWDC. I haven't downloaded it yet. Steve Jobs is rarely one to disappoint.

Guess we will be in line at an Apple Store on July 11th.

I am not sure how I feel about me.com. I have a .mac account. The good news is I get both when they make the switch in July.

on the night stand :: When You Are Engulfed In Flames

where i live

This is a cute idea from AT&T. Unfortunately the interface isn't playing nice with Zazzle. Also I am not sure I would pay $20 for this tshirt.

That's Newport Beach + Houston + Chicago. You can only pick three (I really need about 7). I love to hang out in Newport Beach (although I am mostly at the library there). I call Houston a lot because of my work. And my phone number is still a 312 area code. Of course I also need to add the Bay Area plus the Starbucks on Lavall Road (West) and Minnesota and Denver....

on the night stand ::For the Kids Three