Tell me about how you found a totally lost thing...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We lost a Tivo remote once for months, and downloaded an app on our phones to replace the remote. It was tedious.

Maybe 6 weeks later we found it in the bottom of a bag destined for Goodwill -- our toddler had put it there.

PSA: Your TIVO box has a little button on top. If you press it, your remote will start beeping periodically to help you find it.

[Anonymous]

DH lost his laptop in when staying with relatives in India. They insisted he should tie something large in a knot (like a bedsheet or a rope) and this would help him find it. We were skeptical, but tied something small in a knot. No dice. The relative said, no, no, something bigger. We tied a sheet in a knot and found the laptop 30 seconds later in a stack of papers on a desk we had searched a dozen times.

Obviously, it is just a superstition. But if you are really out of ideas, it's cheaper than a hypnotist....

[Anonymous]

I lost a pair of diamond earrings. Months later I found them inside a zipper compartment in my purse. It had two zippers. I swore it only had one zipper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH lost his laptop in when staying with relatives in India. They insisted he should tie something large in a knot (like a bedsheet or a rope) and this would help him find it. We were skeptical, but tied something small in a knot. No dice. The relative said, no, no, something bigger. We tied a sheet in a knot and found the laptop 30 seconds later in a stack of papers on a desk we had searched a dozen times.

Obviously, it is just a superstition. But if you are really out of ideas, it's cheaper than a hypnotist....

OP here - I am really out of ideas and I will try this.

[Anonymous]

Similar to knotting a sheet - light an orange candle for at least 20 minutes and the item will be found. Some people even find things you’re not looking for.

Most recently, I lost AirPods. I was absolutely sure I picked them up and put them in my bag and went to the dentist and they fell out somewhere. I looked on and off for months and the Find feature wasn’t working, battery must have been dead. I bought another pair after a couple of months. My mom reminded me about it so I bought a pack of birthday candles and lit 2 orange ones until they burned out. No earphones. Until the last day of school when my son’s teacher finally located a lunch bag that had also been lost for months; I was cleaning it out and the AirPods were in the bottom.

I am pretty superstitious and most of me doesn’t even believe but it is just so freaky the stories… try it, no harm done.

[Anonymous]

The knot thing sounds like a genuine placebo effect-- placebos often work! It's like giving your brain permission to loosen up and choose a new path... like shaking the Boggle shaker.

[Anonymous]

OP, I have ADHD and temporarily lose things somewhat frequently. One of the places my lost thing often turns up is on a very random surface near where I happened to be. Say I took off my gloves and then my child called for me. I walk over to where I think she is, in our office. Then realize she's in the bathroom, help her, continue undressing and go to sleep. Next day I look everywhere for the gloves. I might not even think to check the office or retrace my steps there, because my brain may not have processed I was even there at all (for 10 seconds). If I do remember, I might not initially visually process that I left my gloves on the top of the printer because I saw some papers I needed for the next day, picked them up, and put down the gloves to do so, all while distracted by looking for my daughter. Stuff like that.

I made that up, but the other day my missing phone was on the fireplace mantle, which I touch maybe 5x/year, because I had had to get our pet out from behind the couch, which is next to it.

Just surfaces I either don't remember being near or which my brain doesn't completely "see" because they are random and unexpected.

[Anonymous]

My mom always does the flashlight thing. It really does help!

[Anonymous]

You said you searched bags - do any of the bags have a rip in the lining? Perhaps you were searching so frantically that you missed that.

Any children in the house that may have moved the jewelry?

I'd also check kitchen drawers, the fridge, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Catholics pray to st Anthony. My mom once lost her engagement ring in a mall parking lot. After sitting around praying, we decided to call back the security at the mall AGAIN to see if anyone had found it. Amazingly someone had, and had left a note with her number with the mall cops. She had it in her lap in the car because she put on lotion— and stood up to get out of the car forgetting it was in her lap.

It works and don’t have to be Catholic

Tony, Tony, look around
Something’s lost and can’t be found!!

This is what I always do, and I’m an atheist, and I don’t know why I do it but maybe it sometimes works?

[Anonymous]

Is there somewhere you are NOT searching/and or it actually WOULDN’T make sense for it to be? Like stop searching for the thing in the most logical place. Start looking in the illogical places, or places for whatever reason you’ve decided it wouldn’t be.

Also I hate giving him credit for this because I’m pissed at him right now, but if I go to my husband in despair/distress and ask for his help, he is able to find the thing 99% of the time. It’s a rare chance for him to be my hero.

[Anonymous]

I once lost my keys. I *knew* they were in the house. Months later I found them inside a tissue box. I had tossed them on my desk and they fell inside. I always shake tissue boxes now when I’ve lost something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there somewhere you are NOT searching/and or it actually WOULDN’T make sense for it to be? Like stop searching for the thing in the most logical place. Start looking in the illogical places, or places for whatever reason you’ve decided it wouldn’t be.

Also I hate giving him credit for this because I’m pissed at him right now, but if I go to my husband in despair/distress and ask for his help, he is able to find the thing 99% of the time. It’s a rare chance for him to be my hero.

It's the fresh set of eyes-- and a brain which also may not be attached to where the thing "should" be.

DH also helps me with this (and vice versa) but it took several years of marriage before my anxious know-it-all behind would stop irritably following him around saying "I already looked there." After he found The Thing about a dozen times in someplace I'd already looked, I learned to keep my mouth shut, lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The knot thing sounds like a genuine placebo effect-- placebos often work! It's like giving your brain permission to loosen up and choose a new path... like shaking the Boggle shaker.

I'll add to my above post that the same phenomenon is likely at work when I lose something and I take a moment to verbally vent or describe where I've looked to DH or DD... about 40% of the time I find it less than 20 seconds into my story.

[Anonymous]

I lost my ID badge that I usually toss onto the passenger seat after work. When I got home, I reached for the badge but it was not there. I searched the car but could not find it anywhere. I worried that I had dropped it in the parking lot before getting into the car. After calming down a moment to clear my head, I decided to search the car again.

I found it: Somehow, it had fallen into the passenger door storage pocket which I never use for anything and it was the last place I looked after looking under the seats and between the seats and even the glove compartment. So relieved!