So my car fob went missing a while back, possibly as long ago as our trip to the Berkshires in early February. I checked every pocket. I looked in bowls and baskets. K took down the suitcase from the birthday trip and I checked its every pocket. No luck.
This was such a sustained case of “Where’s My?” that I had a chance to develop a new search trick. Get this, rather than looking in every zippered or unzippered section of every purse you might have used recently, carry all your bags out to the car in a fistful and see if the door unlocks. A short cut!
I regularly use: two hobo dog-walking bags (that I made), a smaller zippered pouch (that my mother-in-law made), a beautiful new voluminous bag that Ginny gave me recently. I occasionally use two other small-ish shoulder bags.
Even if my trick arose out of a pathetic lifelong flaw and will only work with car fobs, I’m very proud of it.
The loss didn’t hamper my style for two reasons. One — I hardy go anyway these days. Two — I could borrow my husband’s. However, given my predilection for losing things, using my husband’s fob came with an unspoken but shared concern that I would eventually misplace it too. Then we’d be out some bucks.
So not ideal.
Anyway, this morning five seconds after I announced with a weary sigh that I didn’t think I was gonna find my fob — ever — I found my fob.
It was in one of my BlueQ zippered pouches. I use these funky little pouches when I travel for things like dental floss, thread nippers, and hair clips. This practice was necessitated years back when I started using a messenger bag that one of the boys left behind, a big roomy thing with no inner divisions (clearly not designed by a woman).
Is she still taking about bags?
It’s a shame you can’t fake the belief that a misplaced item is not coming back. Otherwise, I’d have feigned my fatigue and said it’s gone with breathy resignation five weeks ago!
PS. I’m not wringing my hands over this. It’s kinda funny, really. I am still thinking about a post of Grace’s from 12/28/2014, linked to her most recent post. She talked about her beloved dog, Tay, who recently passed, and how she was a little immune to shaming words, and to praise as well. How healthy is that? I was inspired.
Another harder reflection was to note the date, see my absence from the long line of comments, and to wonder what life-sucking drama was playing out in Salem then. My sister was born on the 27th of December, so chances are I made the effort to see her on that day, but rarely a year went by without her making a stink about being neglected around her birthday. It’s a time of year I’ve historically dreaded even as I tried to prevent her lonely victimhood with generous gifts. I am going to resist the temptation to pull out a journal and see the particulars.
My youngest daughter was born Dec 27th .. gosh I remember when she was little how quickly the Christmas tree came down and birthday balloons went up. So good you found that fob before replacing it.
It’s a tough time to have a birthday!
Purses, misplacing items, well no because, see I am a Virgo and we are highly organized, what some call anal!: I have three purses: a black one I call my go to funerals purse, a lovely hobo patchwork purse that Tina made and that will be in use as soon as the weather warms up and a green canvas, sort of camping bag with many outside pockets and a roomy inside. Purchased when I lived in WA in 2003 so twenty years old, some of the stitching is fraying and I have already replaced two shoulder straps. The other week, when my 2nd strap gave way, I thought well it’s time to go but I love this funky bag. R came to the rescue and gave me the shoulder strap to his old laptop case so I am set until I switch over to my lovely colorful patchwork Hobo bag. Whenever I switch purses, I place items in the same way so I can always find what I need…did I mention that I am a Virgo.
What I tended to misplace at times was our car. We have an old workhorse, a 2004 white Toyota Highlander. Do you have any idea how many white cars there are in the Southwest, given our high temps?. After several embarrassing experiences, the worst one was when we had taken a road trip, gotten up early in Arizona and I was trying to use my fob and my key to open the door to a car that I knew was ours. A loud voice boomed out, “What the hell do you think you are doing?” and a man came out of the next motel room, a big guy and I froze. R was taking a shower so he was no help but the guy took in the situation and was very nice about it but I was totally mortified. When we got back home, I decided to do something to identify our car; that something took the form of me buying several thin ribbons and tying them to the radio antenna…those frayed ribbons solved the problem..
We could have a while round robin where we describe our bags. I’ll bet a lot of us have homemade hobo bags! I’ve done that with my car too, though around here it’s the prevalence of black cars that can befuddle.
Since the boys left, I am much, much more organized, BTW. Except for my phone, which manages to elude sight two or three times a day, I can pretty much find important items — the shoes I want to wear, my JJill cardigan, the zester, the postal scale, stamps etc.
pS I tied a piece of indigo-dyed muslin to my black luggage before I got my aqua suitcase. It helped!
Looks like Finney gave up the search too! I usually do not misplace things, so when I do…oh man, do I go crazy looking! Cute little zippered bags 🙂
I often use the five minute rule which says I’d you don’t find the list item in that amount of time, forget about it and start cleaning up. It often works.
I lose my phone all the time … used to have Don call me so I could locate it, but now that I have Bluetooth-enabled hearing aids, the phone rings in my head … ha!
In a related bit of nonsense, Don picked up my phone recently and started scrolling through my Instagram feed … which put a scramble of sound into my head … wtf
and I love the risers on your stairs!
Interesting weird connectivity! It sounds unsettling but convenient? And yeah, me too. Most of the recent calls in my phone on any given day are from our landline. I keep my phone i a brown leather wallet. As soon as it warms up a little more, I’m gonna spray paint it orange so it can’t hide on wood surfaces or in the dark of a purse so readily.
I lose my glasses most days and they are getting harder to find as my eyes are dimming, wish I could just put them carefully in their case like Roderick would always do…
That’s a tough one! It was such a relief when my eyes got bad enough to need progressives. You just don’t take them off.
the Toyota truck, 1983, you just put in neutral, let it roll a little, pop the clutch
fob
this new vehicle i drive now in California, has a fob. I don’t even like the word…fob…..a fob
I hate the word too and I miss having a key. Just like I miss using money.
Did you see the foot-long braided tails I put on my scissors? I also tailed the TV remote. Years ago I made finger thick braids from sari silk yarn for the car keys. Tails help!
Great ideas. I usually can find my scissors and the remote, believe it or not.
my husband misplaces his stuff all the time, usually I don’t; I just don’t get why he wants to spend time looking for his car keys f.e. most days when he could, like me, simply hang them in the same spot….it used to annoy me, but now I shrug my shoulders and don’t try to ‘help’
funny how people are the way they are
Good for you, having learned to shrug. Nothing worse than being lectured about “the same spot rule” when you can’t find something!
I can’t believe it, did I not respond to this post?
Quite a brilliant recovery of that key fob, for you!
I am on a continual search for keys, purse, or phone. I’m better now, but I’m so bad, since I was a kid, that one of my travel buddies has declared herself my “sweeper”. While traveling I am particularly pathetic.
Strangely enough when I travel alone I do fine. Oh, except that time time back in the late 90’s when I left my laptop on an airplane (business trip). Fortunately I had business cards in the case pocket and this angel of a human being called me saying, “Hey, I think I’ve got your laptop”. They also lived NJ and met me 1/2 way with my laptop. I think I would’ve been fired had I lost all that data.
Comforting to see many others have this problem.
Love those zipper bags.