So recently my daugher was the victim of theft. She was out enjoying an evening at a local watering hole with some friends when she foolishly set her iphone down for just a moment to take her shot during a game of pool. When she turned around a mere few seconds later, her phone was gone! She immediately asked the four total strangers who were within reaching distance of her missing phone and they all professed their ingorance of said phone. When she dialed her number to listen for the phones ring tone she discovered that her phone had been shut off, confirming her fear that it had indeed been stolen.  

Now before you start to ask if she used any of the phones many location features to track her phone, I should tell you that she isn't that technically savvy, andI'm not that lucky. So the next day we found ourselves at the Apple store purchasing a replacement phone. For full price. Thanks Daddy!

I write this as a warning to anyone out there who finds themselves as naive and foolish as I am. If you have a phone that is equipped with the ability to locate, TURN THAT FEATURE ON! Do it NOW! Had my daughter used her phones locater features, her friends could have pinpointed the phone to the pocket of the rouge who had stolen it just moments ago. Had she used Apple's handy icloud services, she wouldn't have lost every photo she had taken overthe last 22 months. (That's right, she was just two months away from a service upgrade discount. But no.)  

Many of us are doing our best to manage very busy lives. We keep meaning to get to the little things hanging over our heads. Do yourself the favor of taking the very small amount of time it takes to engage the location services that already live in your smart phone. You'll be glad you did. I can give you $500.00 reasons that I wish I had.