gaspersWorld

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Last Wednesday, exactly a week ago, I lost my mobile phone.

I was heading to office at Kuwait Shuwaikh Free Trade Zone after a meeting in KIPIC (Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Co).

On the way, I'd stopped at the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) to deposit a cheque in my name. It was there that I found the phone was missing. 

I immediately tried ringing from the bank’s local line despite knowing that I had last put the phone on ‘silent mode’ during the KIPIC meeting.

Ring-Ring-Ring. No answer. 

Did it slip away from my pocket? Where? I tried to think, think and think. I looked everywhere -- a dozen times in my pockets, laptop bag, in the car, under the seats, even in the car dickey and in my socks.

After about an hour I concluded the damn thing was lost. I was devastated, I felt like a piece of me was taken away. It was the first time I had lost my phone so it was a big shock. No wonder, for anyone in today’s world, the phone is so important...

“How could I be so absent-minded?” I swore at myself.

The only person I thought about in my moment of distress was my ‘wife’. I called her up and told what happened.

“Can I borrow your phone for some time till I buy a new one perhaps,” I asked.

“Hey, all your photos, data, now it’s all gone???.. Good..!” stated my wife instead of consoling me.

“Am not worried about all that..” I told her.

“Okay, you may take my phone. Don't bother to answer anyone except mom if she calls...” she warned.

Except mom? It would take me a Holy week to explain her how I lost the phone first place😆😉.

Instead of drawing a snake with my feet and grieve over my long-winded tale anymore, I decided to go ahead, purchase a new phone quickly and replace the sim.

Well, it’s rather complicated when you lose your phone or buy a new one. A lot of things need to be done all over again -- download the apps and set them up anew. It’s a pain in many ways. 

But the amazing thing is, I didn't have to do all that as I located my lost phone after 3 days.. 

HOW....???

Let me share what you should do if you lose your phone so you don’t find yourself in the same pickle as I did.

LOSING A PHONE SUCKS

The smartphone technology and the internet have created great convenience in our lives, no doubt about that. But losing a phone definitely makes you feel out of place, and even lonely. It really sucks.

If you are like me, then you will check your emails (work related ofcourse), Facebook, WhatsApp, etc, every few minutes. 

“You think something life-changing has happened in the last few minutes since you checked your status or inbox???” my wife often remarks.

She is right. The truth is, we are not missing anything because there's nothing more important than LIFE itself.

LIFE GOES ON...

Well, it’s okay that you haven’t responded to everyone in your email Inbox yet. It’s okay that you haven’t checked Facebook for the past 8 hours (when you are at work). 

But having a phone stolen or misplaced can feel like the end of the world. 

Well, it doesn't have to be. Here are the measures you can take before the worst happens, and what to do if it does:

REMOTE TRACKING

Nowadays, every phone comes with a built-in tracking tool that can track it from the web or another device. 

It is called FIND MY DEVICE, and you can enable it under the Security & location menu in Settings. 

You can easily track your phone from any device where you are signed in with the same Google account. 

You can also view your phone's last reported location on the web, by going to your Google Account (which is what I exactly did in the case of my lost phone. But, by that time, the bank had closed for the day for the weekend. So I had to wait till the next working day).

LOCK THE SCREEN

Think about all the apps you are automatically signed into on your phone: Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, etc, plus your email accounts and maybe even your bank account and online purchase accounts. 

The only security between those accounts and someone who picks up your phone is the lock screen.

With that in mind, it is essential that you put some kind of protection in place whether it's a PIN, a pattern, a fingerprint, or a face. 

This stops anyone else accessing your phone or ripping any data off it, or at least makes it very difficult. 

“Someone who doesn’t lock their phone is an idiot,” I tell my wife often when she questions me on the ‘lock’ although she has my password except when I change it to a fingerprint - just to avoid her questions. Well, I can’t prepare a balance sheet for her every single day😏.

BACK UP YOUR DATA

You need to back up your data, and save your contact lists somewhere else. 

Apps such as Dropbox and GoogleDrive can automatically upload these for you, or you can use the Google Photos or iCloud Photos options. 

Well, there are a lot of new things every new day. But don’t wait to learn them till you lose your phone.

The biggest lesson I learned when I lost mine, was that a wife is more important than a phone after all – contrary to what my friends say. 

And I guess my wife deserved a gift for being there when I needed. A gift on her birthday (15th April) which otherwise I wouldn’t think of buying her for another millennium.

The fact that I actually purchased the phone in a panic situation to substitute my lost junk, now remains a well-documented story.