Crap! I lost a lens

[Sirius Glass]

My wife "lost" our taxes last week. Apparently one of the kids moved them from the coffee table, so she thought. We looked high and low. Then on a lark, I checked behind the couch. Would've been the first place I looked, and her and the kids were all "looking" around the coffee table and couch. Yep. There it was. Just because someone says they looked someplace doesn't mean they did an adequate job.

The real fun is discovering things you never knew you had lost.

Again just go to the last place that you would look first!

 

[Jeff Bradford]

While hiking along the Withlacoochee River in the Green Swamp of central Florida, I managed to lose a lens cap. I found it again on my way back. I was not surprised by this. My socks come out of the dryer in matched pairs. Now if I could just find my stash of 55mm filters...

 

[Sirius Glass]

Back to the subject, losing a camera, lens, or light meter is unpleasant and sad.

 

[gary in nj]

Back to the subject, losing a camera, lens, or light meter is unpleasant and sad.

Well, that sums it up well. That 50mm that I lost - I've owned it since 1977. 40 years! The only possession I have older than that is a Guild Madeira guitar that my mom bought for me for my 14th birthday in '76. It's sad that I no longer own that lens. It's probably been sold twice on ebay by now.

 

[railwayman3]

Or finding something you forgot you ever had!

That's always fun...although a bit disconcerting if you've already bought another the same. My wife and I purchased a table lamp recently, had it a few weeks before we remembered we'd already bought an identical one last year and put it away, still in its box. It gets worrying !

 

[railwayman3]

There's only the two of us regularly in the house, but we have a saying when something goes missing ...."someone's moving things" ! I've currently "lost" an old Vivitar tele-converter which I've had for 20+ years....last time I used it was at home a few months ago, and I keep it in my desk, not in any of my gadget bags. Must be somewhere in the house, so I'll just wait for it to re-appear.

 

[cooltouch]

I've never lost a lens, but I've had one stolen practically under my nose, so I feel the pain. Except mine was a Canon nFD 400mm f/4.5, so forgive me if I'm claiming a bit more.

My advice, such that it is: don't use the tailgate of your pickup any more for laying out your gear. I lost my favorite cell phone because of a similar boneheaded mistake, so I'm here to tell ya that it can happen.

Currently I have a Leatherman Juice that's grown legs. I hope it turns up soon.

 

[gary in nj]

My advice, such that it is: don't use the tailgate of your pickup any more for laying out your gear.

It's my workbench away from home. Usually if I've forgotten something was put there, it gets launched into the (covered) bed - this way it gets "found" the next time I open the tailgate. I also have a wooden divider at the closest indent, this way nothing is ever out of reach.

 

[davidmasek]

This might cheer you up, works for me

"And there shall in that time be rumours of things going astray, and there will be a great confusion as to where things really are... "

 

[cooltouch]

It's my workbench away from home. Usually if I've forgotten something was put there, it gets launched into the (covered) bed - this way it gets "found" the next time I open the tailgate. I also have a wooden divider at the closest indent, this way nothing is ever out of reach.

But that only happens when you decelerate. What about when you accelerate?

 

[MattKing]

I won't tell you the story about a family friend/professional photographer who finished photographing a wedding for clients and put all of the rolls of exposed film from the reception on the bumper of his vehicle, while he organized everything prior to leaving for his studio ......

 

[Sirius Glass]

I have lost lens caps and dark slides.

 

[Toffle]

I won't tell you the story about a family friend/professional photographer who finished photographing a wedding for clients and put all of the rolls of exposed film from the reception on the bumper of his vehicle, while he organized everything prior to leaving for his studio ......

... and I won't tell of the time I was leaving my first professional position and placed a box of souvenirs, mementos and such irreplaceable treasures beside my desk...
right next to the trash bin...

 

[BrianShaw]

This might cheer you up, works for me

"And there shall in that time be rumours of things going astray, and there will be a great confusion as to where things really are... "

Ha ha... I think I could teach that guy a thing or two!

 

[John_Nikon_F]

Another thing to do... Stop thinking about where you'd put the lens. Frequently when I do something like that, within 5-10 minutes, I open up a drawer or something and *bam* there's the item I've been looking for.

-J

 

[MattKing]

... and I won't tell of the time I was leaving my first professional position and placed a box of souvenirs, mementos and such irreplaceable treasures beside my desk...
right next to the trash bin...

If my Dad was still around, he could tell you of the time that the contractor (who supplied staff for nightly cleaning of the Kodak lab where Dad worked) added a new staff member to the crew. That crew member was assigned to the customer "Inquiry" area - where customers dropped in personally and left their film for processing. That crew member failed to properly differentiate between the garbage bags and the clearly labeled Kodak film transport bags (made of waterproofed vinyl I think) that held the film that was going to be going back to be processed the next day.
You might guess what went wrong...
But you probably wouldn't be able to picture my Dad and some of the other staff and management at the municipal landfill, raking through recently dumped garbage in search of Kodak bags (in bright Kodak colours, of course).
Apparently the bags were found, and no customer film was lost or damaged.

 

[Toffle]

But you probably wouldn't be able to picture my Dad and some of the other staff and management at the municipal landfill, raking through recently dumped garbage in search of Kodak bags (in bright Kodak colours, of course).
Apparently the bags were found, and no customer film was lost or damaged.

Maybe, then, you can imagine me at the landfill doing pretty much the same whilst keeping an eye peeled for the black bears that liked to sort through the garbage.

I learned a great deal through that experience, not the least of which is to be aware of how our clearest of intentions may appear to others. Had the janitor read my mind, as I clearly expected him to do, things would have turned out much differently. Most importantly, I learned an important lesson about the things we cling to as we pass through life's doorways. I was devastated at the time, but the loss of those physical things has had absolutely zero effect on the progress of my life. My experiences at that place and the memories thereof are far more valuable to me even 30 years later.