Touching Base

It's been a while since my last arm update. I've been going to physiotherapy sessions regularly. The frequency went to twice a week, then just once a week. The sessions were mostly the same, focusing on strength and improving my flexion since extension was basically full. It really hurt to get my arm to flex completely, but after a month, I can actually touch my shoulder with my fingers (with some effort). The first time I did it without using my other arm to push it down, I was quite elated. Since then I've been gradually improving with the help of therapy.

Yesterday, I went for my followup visit with the doctor. First I had another therapy session. It was quite effective and my arm felt looser than it's been in weeks. Then I got to see the doctor. He didn't spend much time with me after looking over the case notes. He checked my arm and happily pronounced that I had full range of motion and extolled the virtues of physiotherapy, which I have to agree with. I wouldn't have to see him any more and I could either stop or continue physiotherapy as I wished or at the advice of the therapist. The therapist in turn said that I could stop if I wanted to, but it would be better if I continued a little longer. I still feel that further sessions would do me good (it still takes quite an effort to flex fully and my muscles quiver), so I set an appointment for two weeks later since I wouldn't be around next week. They gave me one of the rubber tubes they used for me to exercise by myself.

It's been a long and painful journey to get to this point and while I'm not as good as new, I'm basically out of the woods and my way back home. And that's a pretty darn good feeling.

Lost: One iPod Touch

Yesterday I lost my iPod Touch.

I bought it over two years ago and used it daily. It was a large part of my life and I invested many hundreds, nay thousands of hours on various apps and games. Then yesterday while shopping with my sister, I took it out of my side pocket and used it to calculate if it was worth it to buy a larger bottle of hazelnut spread (not really worth it). I set it on a stack of boxes as I was carrying a basket in my other hand. I may be wrong about what happened next, but I think I got a phone call at this point. I answered the phone and carried on the conversation while my sister decided on the smaller bottle. I believe I lifted the basket for my sister to place the bottle in, and promptly proceeded to the cashier, leaving my poor iPod perched on the stack for all the world to see and grab.

When I got home, I wanted to use my iPod and found my pocket unzipped and iPod-less. After some searching, my sister realised I might have left it at the store. We rushed back. I went to the aisle and found the boxes gone. I questioned a worker who was shelving the goods from those boxes earlier but he said he hadn't seen it. We looked through the remnants of the now empty boxes and found nothing. I looked around the shelves and under them and found nothing. We reported the matter to the security officer in charge (it was a large grocery store). He questioned the staff and reported that noone had turned it in. Upset and dejected, I had no choice but to go home, leaving the officer my contact details should my iPod turn up.

Later the full weight of my loss hit me. Beyond the cost of the device, the thousands of hours I invested in games were also lost. I had to change all my mail passwords, my Skype password, my Twitter password, and my iTunes password. The thought of my downloaded e-mails and my few family photos being rifled through by some creep disturbed me greatly, being a fairly paranoid person. My home address and e-mail addresses could easily be found and that bugs me a little even if those things aren't exactly big secrets.

I spent most of the night and today really upset. Work kept me busy during the day, but in the few quiet moments, I was painfuly conscious of the emptiness in my left side pocket (if only I had been more conscious before...) . I thought of my Tap Zoo and my Smurf Village - shallow and unimportant perhaps, but I spent a lot of time on them every day and it makes me sad not to see them. I thought of the many games and achievements and how they are lost perhaps permanently. I'm not sure how much a restore from backup would salvage were I to get a new iPod Touch. Today I saw there were updates to my apps including a 'huge' update to Tap Zoo and a funny update to Pocket God. Further sadness.

This iPod was getting inadequate for the latest apps and games and I was planning to replace it when the 5G came out this September. I now face the prospect of being without the device that has been so much a part of my daily routine for six months or buying a new one earlier and being bummed when the new one comes out.

To the person who stole my property so callously, you'll likely never read this, but I hope there's a special place reserved for you in whatever hell you believe in. Karma is a bitch.

There are far greater tragedies to be sure, but this has really made me sad and angry. I hold no delusions that I will get it back since there was ample information on it with which to contact me. I guess there are few honest people left in the world. I suppose I'll get over it eventually but I've lost considerable faith in humanity. People suck.