A Word of Relief
by Joey Day
A few days ago, I blogged the following:
bq.. A Word of Advice
Don’t lose your wallet. Ugh.
p. Yes, I was speaking from personal experience. On Thursday, December 9, I lost my wallet. Actually, it’s quite a bit more than just a wallet. It’s a small “zippered folio”:http://shopping.franklincovey.com/shopping/catalog/product2.jsp?navAction=push&navCount=3&id=prod114 (mine is actually blue, but the line has been discontinued and this is the only picture I can find online) that contains, in addition to my driver’s license and credit cards, my “palmOne Tungsten E”:http://palmone.com/us/products/handhelds/tungsten-e/.
Not only is the Palm itself worth $199 (of course, mine is worth less since it is used), but I also have a 512 MB Secure Digital card inside that I paid $100 for (these are going for $50 now if you know where to look). The price isn’t nearly as important to me as the files that are held on the card. Since I don’t have one single computer I can call my own (I bounce around between my PC here at work, my fiancée’s computer, and my mom’s computer), I keep all of my personal files on my SD card.
I left my wallet in a shopping cart at a local grocery store. I realized less than an hour later and called the store to see if someone had turned it in. No such luck. I called again two or three more times, all the while watching my bank statements like a hawk looking for any bogus charges. After 48 hours, I gave up on finding it, cancelled my cards, and went down to the local DMV to get a new license. I figured if someone decent had found it, they would’ve turned it in by then or at least contacted me.
Fortunately, last Saturday my wayward wallet found it’s way to my parents’ mailbox. Everything is intact. All my credit cards, my ID, my Palm, my SD card — everything (I very rarely use cash, so there was none in the wallet when I lost it). Ironically, my new credit cards arrived in the mailbox that same day.
Whoever you are, I’m sure you’ll probably never read this, but thanks for doing such a decent thing. I’m sorry I didn’t have much faith in you — I thought for sure you were selling my Palm on eBay by now. Your simple act of kindness means more than I can attach any dollar amount to.
Comments
It’s great to have good, honest people out there.
Do all your readers know how many Palms you’ve lost or broken?
I myself have lost a total of 3 palms. Yes, 3. Well, they were all Handspring Visors if you want to get technical.
I lost them several times (lost as in could not locate: left them in movie theaters when they fell out of my pocket, left them in restaurants, etc.), but all of these I also lost (as in broke).
The first one broke when I dropped it onto the kitchen floor. The screen just shattered. The second one I broke when I dropped it in line at a Taco Time. The third time I dropped it on a carpeted hallway … go figure. I had dropped them on concrete before with no adverse effects, and have become quite an expert at understanding just what type of fall is required to shatter the screen.
So … what did I do after that? I purchased a Dell Axim. I was weary of the PalmOS, along with the B&W screen, and wanted something with sound, color, and, *cough* windows.
BTWA Joey — I have encoded several movies for my Axim, which no doubt will run on your Tungston. It has become a hobby of sorts. I use Beta Player, and get a great performance out of it. I encoded Shrek to about 125 MB, 320×240 with 96 kpbs mp3 audio. It is fun if you are stuck on a bus, waiting in a doctor’s office, etc. People flip their lid, and think I created the Holy Grail when I show them a movie on my PDA. Heck … you can even put movies on most cell phones now, so long as you got the memory.
How fortunate!
The answer is 7 Handspring Visor Prisms.
Anyway, CONGRATURATION on retrieving your wallet.
…and two Palm IIIx’s (before I got my first Prism).