World according to Murphy

"You could have at least made a sound. A beep - isn’t it what you do? All these months looking for you. Coming to believe that you were stolen, from the balcony, hanging there, just like that - trying to dry. 
Instead you kept lying still, silent, listening to our doubts, theories and finally -  resignation. We wrote you off." 

One of the many Murphy’s laws which in fact run our world, says that if you want to find something that is lost you need to start looking for something else. I would say that this very law, along with the one speaking of the strength of wind and ferocity of rain relating directly to the amount of money spent at the hairdresser, is the one that haunts me. 

“I’ll just put this in a safe place and WILL remember where it is.” Not so. My brain is able to retain the information only for as long as I actually see the object. Once out of sight it vanishes into thin air and then into complete oblivion if longer period of time passes. Such items are keys, small camera equipment, chargers, cables and memory cards as well as personal items. Once it was a jar of coffee, other time credit cards, numerous times my passport and occasionally a lip balm. The lip balm issue is easily fixed - I now have have as many lip balms as I have bags, which is quite a few. My phone alone is worth a separate chapter.

The item in question which reappeared into the world today is a GPS device. Once submerged in water during one crazy expedition or another and thought unusable it was given one last chance to dry. It hung on the balcony in the sun for a few days. Then it found its way on the bedside table where it lay for several days. It then received orders from above (me) to clear off and stop being in the way. It was put in a box saved from one camera purchase or another (because these may come in handy one day) and slid under the bed (read: somewhere safe and obvious) along with the other boxes. There it lay dormant and undisturbed - aside maybe from by the cat - for months. Nine months to be precise. 

Today, while rummaging under the bed looking for another box containing my spare handbags (and lip balms) I came across the camera box. It felt heavy in my hand and surely should have been empty! Only it wasn’t. I witnessed the rebirth of the GPS. Smug, it looked at me and smiled from behind the bag of silica gel balls. "Well, nice to see you too! You look rather well!? Was it a good hibernation? Between the cables and User Guides and other items previously thought lost to the world?" 

A friend of mine recently returned from her two months holiday (aren’t some people lucky!?) only to be faced with the frustration of trying to find a crucial key to get to her valuables. Having turned her place upside down on day two of frustration she finally heard her kitchen calling. The key was not in the fridge as you may have suspected but rather in the jar with her tea bags. Well, of course, smart hiding place! One will make a cup of tea sooner or later, won’t one? 

These stories of lost and (sometimes) found items were told over dinner with a friend visiting us from Australia. Half way through our various encounters his gaze became distant as he tried to remember where he put his car keys after he left. Essential piece of information to have specially when rushing home to check if you have closed the windows or unplugged the iron…. 

What have you lost and found? Where is your favourite hiding place which is oh so obvious? Do you have tricks to trick your memory? Please share!