Well, what a fast five weeks that was!
I'm back in the U.S. and in 42-degrees Whiteville, North Carolina. I have plenty of video to edit, so as soon as I get settled in, I'll begin work on that.
I didn't mention this before, but while at the Carnaval celebration in La Vega, some little sprite stole my iPad from my front pocket. I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but after I shot the dancers at several areas I noticed it was gone.
That's the thing about traveling; you are sent into a panic instantly. You don't think; "Gee, where did I put my keys? Or phone? Or iPad?" Since you are generally carrying everything, and are constantly moving when you notice something missing -- it's an instant, exhilarating panic.
And that's what I did when I felt that empty feeling at my right thigh. I spun around in the middle of, oh, about a thousand people, and I wandered around a little until I realized how screwed I really was.
So, I found a city police officer who took me to the local police station where I was unable to fill out a report (Sunday).
I'm back in the U.S. and in 42-degrees Whiteville, North Carolina. I have plenty of video to edit, so as soon as I get settled in, I'll begin work on that.
I didn't mention this before, but while at the Carnaval celebration in La Vega, some little sprite stole my iPad from my front pocket. I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but after I shot the dancers at several areas I noticed it was gone.
That's the thing about traveling; you are sent into a panic instantly. You don't think; "Gee, where did I put my keys? Or phone? Or iPad?" Since you are generally carrying everything, and are constantly moving when you notice something missing -- it's an instant, exhilarating panic.
And that's what I did when I felt that empty feeling at my right thigh. I spun around in the middle of, oh, about a thousand people, and I wandered around a little until I realized how screwed I really was.
So, I found a city police officer who took me to the local police station where I was unable to fill out a report (Sunday).
He gave me his phone number, which I may use now, since I have "found" the iPad.
If you're wondering what happens with these things when they are lost or stolen, here is what happened in my case.
- I had it set to require a four-digit passcode to turn it on, which is important - especially when traveling - as I couldn't get online to lock it for several hours.
- Once I did get online, I set it to "Lost" mode, which locked it so it couldn't be used.
- If someone turned it on and it was able to connect with the Internet, I would be able to locate it with "Find my iPad," but...
- Since it was in the D.R. without cellular data, someone would have had to connect it with wi-fi or set up a cellular account, which they couldn't do since it was locked.
- In Locked mode, when someone turned it on, they got a message with my phone number and email address.
- Well, a week later, now that I am off the island, I got a message from a woman who said she paid $100 US for my iPad, but she can't unlock it and would I please give her the code so she can use it?
- I haven't done that! But I did get in touch with the police there and well, we'll see what happens.
- The iPad was insured (for $120 per year) so I reported it and the replacement should arrive today. I paid a $150 deductible and consider myself pretty lucky considering all that could have gone wrong in my five weeks on Hispaniola.
Meanwhile, I'm getting settled in. I have a Take the Lake meeting tonight, and I'm looking forward to a lot of new energy going into this exciting project!
If you're wondering what happens with these things when they are lost or stolen, here is what happened in my case.
- I had it set to require a four-digit passcode to turn it on, which is important - especially when traveling - as I couldn't get online to lock it for several hours.
- Once I did get online, I set it to "Lost" mode, which locked it so it couldn't be used.
- If someone turned it on and it was able to connect with the Internet, I would be able to locate it with "Find my iPad," but...
- Since it was in the D.R. without cellular data, someone would have had to connect it with wi-fi or set up a cellular account, which they couldn't do since it was locked.
- In Locked mode, when someone turned it on, they got a message with my phone number and email address.
- Well, a week later, now that I am off the island, I got a message from a woman who said she paid $100 US for my iPad, but she can't unlock it and would I please give her the code so she can use it?
- I haven't done that! But I did get in touch with the police there and well, we'll see what happens.
- The iPad was insured (for $120 per year) so I reported it and the replacement should arrive today. I paid a $150 deductible and consider myself pretty lucky considering all that could have gone wrong in my five weeks on Hispaniola.
Meanwhile, I'm getting settled in. I have a Take the Lake meeting tonight, and I'm looking forward to a lot of new energy going into this exciting project!