Today started out very very bad. How bad you may ask? Or you may be thinking come on Scott, everything is dreary to you… Well today was not good. It started out normal enough. That was until I was swiping my metro card to get on the subway. I heard the subway pulling in, so like any normal New Yorker I rushed down to try and get on the train. I actually get caught in the closing doors. Normally this is good because that means I have a good chance of making it on the train. In this case I did in fact make it on the train. But just as I was in the train I realized I wanted out. Why? My Treo that was on my belt was no longer attached to the belt clip. I had felt it and heard it come off as the doors slammed into me. I thought I saw it go down the crack between the train and the platform but I couldn’t tell. My fingers almost got caught in the door as I tried to get out.
My reaction surprised me. At first I was like, screw it. it is just a phone. I wasn’t even going to go back and look for it. Then I realized I have allot of information on it that I don’t want others to get. So I got off at the next stop, and went back uptown to try and find the phone. When I returned to my home station I was happy to find the Treo lying face down in the dirt next to the tracks. I was actually glad it was there. If it was in the middle of the tracks it would be soaked in water. If it was on the platform someone could have stolen it.
I went to the token booth and asked for help. The really nice lady there was like “honey don’t worry, you are the second person today with that problem” she assured me she already called for a special crew to come out to retrieve it. Sure enough about 45 minutes later 2 guys from the MTA show up with this cripping device and pull my Treo and battery cover out of the dirt. Turns out the cover came off when it crashed.
The good news is that the Treo actaully works. Besides some minor (i am a perfectionist with gear so to me it feels like major) cosmetic defects aside the phone was fine. No damage to the screen at all. I was actually plesantly surprised. Why? I don’t think of palms as rugged. My Nextel Blackberry I carry for work is rugged. I have dropped it at least twice on the subway platform or stairs and it has been fine except for some scratches. The Treo seems like a device that wouldn’t wear well. I am glad I was wrong.
The first thing I did when I got to work was password protect the device when you power it on. This was to calm my stolen data fears. next I need an encryptiion program, and something to encrypt the data on my SD card. Overkill? Maybe, but I want to protect myself, especially since this deviec is with me almost all the time and it is small enough that it can “go missing” quickly. Case in point today.