Josh On Design

Yesterday, amidst the Independence Day Fun, I lost my phone.  Or rather, it flew away on the rear bumper of my mother in law’s car.  

Late last night -- after cleaning up the kitchen, saying goodbye to our guests, and finally getting Jesse to sleep -- I reflexively pulled out my phone to check my email, only to discover it missing. In an instant I knew what happened.   

You see, I did something foolish. To safely enjoy the fireworks I bought at Costco, I corralled the kids to a lawn blanket, put on some music, and placed my phone on the raised bumper of the car in our driveway.  After 30 minutes of pyrotechnic fun in the street, my mother in law and husband said goodbye and drove to their house on the other side of town. Amidst the chaos I forgot my phone still playing music on the bumper. 

Upon discovering this revelation, Jen suggested I use the “Find my iPhone” to see if it’s still working. Given that my mother in law lives 15 minutes away, including 5 minutes on a freeway,  the likelihood of it being smashed to tiny pieces by a semi were high. 

I didn’t expect to receive a signal but Find my iPhone did indeed find it. It was on the side of the freeway four miles away. Last ping 30 seconds ago.  It’s still running! Or at least the GPS. But for how much longer?

I threw on some clothes, drove to the spot, and discovered two cars already there.  One, a truck driven by a man with a horse trailer from the near by rodeo, had broken an axel.  The other car had his kids who came over to help. They were waiting for a tow truck to arrive. I introduced myself, asked if they needed help, then explained how an app had led me to them. “Did you happen to see a phone lying on the ground in the darkness?”.

The guy looked around with a flashlight and found my phone under the axel of his truck (not the one that was broken).  I looked at it and pressed the home button. The screen came on and was completely undamaged.  The Speck case that I have used continuously since I bought the phone (an iPhone 5S) was banged up but still intact.  The phone itself had a scratch but I think that came from the keys in my pocket earlier in the week.

I’m impressed. It flew off of a car at 50+ mph and still works perfectly. I just ordered a new case. I switched to blue plaid over grey, because it seems like a nice way to celebrate the impossible.

Thank you Speck!