Comments on: cell phone, cellular, mobile, phone

Question: cell phone, cellular, mobile, phone

gregb1007 — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:08:45 -0800

Help me find my cell home: it's in a certain room but out of sight!

I have a tricky dilemma... I know that my cell phone is located in my bedroom - I've called it and it rang! However, I could not find it despite it doing a very thorough search.. rummaging through the dresser, desk, in the pockets of my clothes, even the bed.

Now, when I was looking for it, I kept on calling to it from the phone home to locate it by the ring. That was great, however, the batteries ran out since then and I have to keep on searching it without ringing.

Any tips on helping me conduct my search better? What obvious spots could I be overlooking? When I look again, what should I do?

By: cloeburner

cloeburner — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:12:23 -0800

Pockets of pants, jackets etc.

By: cloeburner

cloeburner — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:14:14 -0800

Oops, didn't see you said that...um, check again.

By: LN

LN — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:20:46 -0800

I once lost a book in the blankets of my bed. Have you tried stripping the bed layer by layer?

By: booticon

booticon — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:21:51 -0800

Note that it may be in plain sight. That said, stand in different parts of the room to get a different perspective.

By: LN

LN — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:21:52 -0800

BTW, how messy is the room? Is there lots of stuff on the floor, or slung over chairs, etc?

By: gregb1007

gregb1007 — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:24:54 -0800

The room isn't that messy actually

By: iconomy

iconomy — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:26:54 -0800

Take a picture of your bedroom.

Look between the bed and the wall.

By: Morrigan

Morrigan — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:27:36 -0800

Under the bed near the headboard or behind any level surface.

By: everybody polka

everybody polka — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:31:20 -0800

If you have the type of keyboard that this is possible, check underneath the keyboard... I've lost all kinds of things there. Also try any windowsills behind the blinds/curtains.

By: pinksoftsoap

pinksoftsoap — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:34:51 -0800

is it above you?

By: pinksoftsoap

pinksoftsoap — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:35:12 -0800

(in other words, look in higher places)

By: amtho

amtho — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:36:13 -0800

Mentally divide the room into different sectors, say 3' x 3' or 4' x 4', or whatever logical units make sense. Then search each sector in turn, progressing through the room, very, very carefully, without moving _anything_ from one sector to the next as you search.

By: camdan

camdan — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:44:09 -0800

i'd say do a thorough cleaning of the room rather than a "search". i've misplaced many a thing that magically turns up once i clear out all the interference.

By: CAnneDC

CAnneDC — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:53:10 -0800

If you have a bedframe, check between it and the mattress. That's where I found the phone i lost a year ago when I moved recently

By: theredpen

theredpen — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:04:56 -0800

Easy: buy a new one -- it will turn up that night.

Seriously, are there any magazine bins on the floor? I've dropped mine into a magazine "rack" and not found it until I cleaned. I second the cleaning/remaking bed suggestions. Pretend that you're moving. When it was ringing, did that narrow down the parts of the room at all? Post a picture for us to make it a really fun thread.

My money's on amtho's suggestion of dividing and conquering as the winner.

By: Forktine

Forktine — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:12:05 -0800

The thing that has most often worked for me is getting someone else to come in with fresh eyes to look for me. Embarrassingly often, the missing item turns out to be sitting out in plain sight, or just barely hidden.

Failing that, I suggest removing everything from the room, one item at a time. Don't bring out a big pile of stuff at once -- bring things out piece by piece by piece. (If the room is big enough, you can do this just by moving everything from one side of the room to the other.) Yes, this means furniture, too. Once the room is empty, you can check in places like under the radiator and behind the drawers in your closet that you might not yet have checked.

But my first guess is buried inside or under dirty laundry, or in the bedclothes.

By: iconomy

iconomy — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:13:22 -0800

Take a picture of your bedroom.

I probably should have added, "and then upload it so we can see your room" to that sentence.

By: mumkin

mumkin — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:56:02 -0800

What obvious spots could I be overlooking?

I'm with iconomy here: we need a picture of this bedroom to know what spots you have to look in. My bedroom features a bed, two night stands, a dresser, a bookshelf, a valet and a steamer trunk. I don't know what's in yours, but apparently it has a desk too... people use their bedrooms very differently, and I admit to being baffled that you could be standing in the room with the phone ringing, searching for it, and fail to find it. I'm assuming that you've looked behind everything it could have fallen off (desk/dresser/bed/drafting table/whatvs).

By: springo

springo — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 09:26:16 -0800

Professor Solomon wants to help you find your lost stuff

By: JackFlash

JackFlash — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 09:34:31 -0800

Google it.

By: lunasol

lunasol — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 09:35:58 -0800

I once lost my cellphone inside my duvet cover (the slipcover around my comforter). No idea how it ended up there.

By: bassjump

bassjump — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:01:44 -0800

Could there be a pocket in a bag, jacket, pair of pants, etc. with a ripped lining? I once went crazy trying to find my phone in my shoulder bag. Turned out that the phone had slipped through the torn lining and was nesting in a thoroughly unreachable place. Well, unreachable until I tore the lining enough to fit my hand through and retrieve the damned phone.

By: starman

starman — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:06:09 -0800

Check shoes.

By: bonehead

bonehead — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:30:48 -0800

Is the dog ringing?

By: theredpen

theredpen — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 11:46:46 -0800

Please don't forget to tell us where it was when you find it. The more disturbed and obsessive of us are curious. Apparently I don't have enough to focus my OCD on.

By: numinous

numinous — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 14:34:28 -0800

Seconding CAnneDC's advice: If your bed is set up in such a way, check between your actual matress and the bedframe itself. Your phone may have migrated from your bed into the crevice; I've found my keys there on more than one occassion.

By: numinous

numinous — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 14:35:09 -0800

omg occasion***********

By: ctmf

ctmf — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:08:16 -0800

Well, after not being able to find it by the ring a couple of times, I would have started half-splitting the room. Take half of everything out and call. Is it in or out? Half the half it was in. In or out? Etc.

Now that it won't ring anymore, you're going to have to remove everything from the room and establish it as a cell-phone free clean room. (Might as well vacuum and stuff at this point.) Search the furniture first like there could be a cell-phone-sized bomb taped to it somewhere. Put everything that's not a cell phone back in the room one by one (where it belongs).

Tip for piles of clothing - throw them in big batches into the dryer on no-heat, listen for the clunk-clunk sound.

By: desjardins

desjardins — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 17:34:57 -0800

My fiance loses stuff constantly. Usually it is in plain sight, and I have some magic power to see things he doesn't. I second getting a fresh pair of eyes.

By: olya

olya — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 17:45:51 -0800

underneath beside tables? i've lost and found many-a-thing there.

i hope you find it!

By: tomble

tomble — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 19:08:09 -0800

I tend to methodically investigate one area until I KNOW that it isn't there.

So, the bed. I take the cover off, feel it so I know the object isn't there, look under the pillows, feel the pillowcases, look under the bed etc. Once I've investigated it thoroughly, I move onto the next thing, say the bedside drawers.

Take out the drawers - I have had objects fall down the back and into the unused space between the bottom drawer and the floor.

Go through pockets of clothing. Look in shoes. I once found my presumed lost keys by putting some shoes on (ouch).

Get someone to help!

By: IndigoRain

IndigoRain — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 22:05:43 -0800

My friend just found her lost wallet under a baseball cap the other day.

By: alexei

alexei — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:15:13 -0800

I once found my glasses after several months-- I had gone camping and had put them in a tent pocket, then rolled up and packed away the tent. Looked for them everywhere, then found them next time I went camping.

By: mhh5

mhh5 — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:39:59 -0800

borrow a metal detector and sweep certain items to make sure you're not overlooking bedcovers and stuff that might contain the phone....?