Lost phones, coincidences and local elections

Two days ago I lost my phone. I had just got out of a taxi and as it drove off, I realized my phone had slipped out of my trouser pocket. Unfortunately I was too late to get the taxi details. I had been having an interesting conversation with the cab driver who was "of Asian heritage" and so I was pretty sure he would bring it back- if only he knew how. It's amazing how lost and disconcerted losing your mobile can make you. I'm far from addicted to my phone and yet I who as a child could reel off all the numbers of my nearest and dearest (plus a few more) now only have a few numbers in my memory- they are all in my phone memory- so I could call my parent's landline in Nigeria, but not their mobiles, I could call the office and one or two other people and that was it. To make matters worse I was involved in work that meant moving around a lot and so had to keep ringing the office to make sure I wasn't missing anythings while I obsessed about all the messages that were disappearing into the ether. I tried ringing my phone, but since it's permanently on "Vibrate", I was sure the taxi driver wouldn't notice....so reluctantly I rang up the police and my phone company to report the loss. I wasn't going to let the insurers weasel out this time.... a couple of years ago, I lost my phone and the insurance refused to pay saying I had reported it more than 24 hours after the event. It drove me mad, especially as I had tried cancelling the insurance and was told I was locked in for a year. Trust me,as a Naijaman, I made noise up to ringing the office of the Chief Exec of the phone company (found the number on the internet) and generally made life very unpleasant as aresult of which I was given a new phone gratis (as a gesture of goodwill) but it still rankled that the phone had not come from the insurers....call me obsessive but I hate rip-offs.....

Anyway all's well that ends well- had a call tyesterday morning from the phone company, the cab driver had handed the phone in at one of their shops and so I'll go and pick it up. Meanwhile the replacement handset from the insurers is on it's way- I've agreed to send it back once I receive it.... Funnily enough yesterday afternoon at the tube station I saw a mobile phone drop out of someone's pocket- I dashed after her and drew her attention, and returned the phone to the young lady who nearly kissed me in her relief...I said to her I know how it feels- It seemed like an odd coincidence...

Exciting times yesterday with the UK local elections. One of the "privileges" I've always appreciated is the fact that virtually as soon as I arrived in the UK, I was eligible to vote, courtesy of being a citizen of the "Commonwealth"... I voted nice and early for the Lib Dems, largely because I could not bring myself to vote Tory,no matter how charming and cuddly David Cameron appears and because I was disgusted with Labour's arrogance, insensitivity, and stubbornness. From Patricia Hewitt patronizing the NHS and members of the public to Tony Blair stubbornly clinging to policies that everyone is against and sweeping away all complaints,or requests to reconsider under the carpet of thoughtless opposition to reforms....Glad to see the massacre, perhaps it'll make the Labour party sit up and think. I think the Lib Dems did badly because Ming Campbell isn't on the radar at all- at least Charles Kennedy had a distinctive and constant media presence.....perhaps they'd have been better off with someone younger and more dynamic.....Talking of which, the photographs of the Camerons and the Blairs going to vote were a knockout blow- There's charming Dave and Samantha, laid back wearing shirtsleeves and a summery shift dress, looking like the ordinary Londoner (even if the average Londoner hasn't been to Eton and isn't the step daughter of a Lord) and there were Tony and Cherie all dolled up to the nines in corporate gear- and Tony wearing a BLUE tie- I'd noticed that the convention here is that on election day, politicians tend to wear their party colours- blue for the Tories, yellow for the Lib Dems and red for Labour. Cameron wore a blue shirt with folded sleeves, Blair, a blue tie with red spots- perhaps that's the real colour of new Labour- Blue with flecks of red.....