Harry Potter Taught Me About Flashlights

[Bob_G]

About 3 weeks ago now, I lost my favorite (and most expensive) light, a XR-27 PD. I paid $600 for it and was glad I did (eventually) because it turned out to suit my life better than any LED light I had.

I've had a lot more stress than usual in my life for several months, and the loss of this light seemed to be some sort of core engine to it, giving power to whatever else was going on and magnifying it.

It lived in my house pants, but I had just gone to light weight summer ones and it didn't work well in the pocket, but I ignored it for too long. Unfortunately, I go out at night a lot in these pants, walking the dog on a 1/2 mile road, and also in a 3 acre hillside field out back. I'm pretty good at finding things, but I gave up after a week or so. Went to work on the mental aspects of losing something so dear and didn't have much luck. I could push it to the background, but then it would rear it's head and never let me alone.

So this year I went totally digital for the first time home movie wise. HD set, full digital surround, Blu-Ray player and all that. I ended up renting Harry Potter mostly because there wasn't anything else (not my cuppa really) and it surprised me - I really liked it. So went through the whole series in a week or so.

Two days ago was the last one, and in it someone loses something valuable, and one of the "wizened ones" said lost things come back when needed or something to that effect. Whatever it was, it was a nice way to look at loosing something near and dear, and for the first time I felt better, and it lasted.

Today I was headed out back to weed eat and I almost stepped on it. It had been mowed over twice with a Deere tractor, and had at least three thunderstorms to torment it. It was also lying in a drainage area so got washed over by the runoff, in the mud. Cleaned it up and it works fine.

So there.

 

[FrogmanM]

That is a great story! (If you have time, the books are just as good!) Glad to hear you found your McGizmo!

Mayo

 

[BigHonu]

Great story Bob G!

 

[maxspeeds]

That is an awesome story, but all great stories come with atleast one picture (on the cover) . I'm very interested to see how it held up. Pics would be awesome if you have the time :tinfoil:

 

[adamlau]

Awesome. I hope to one day put the PH50 through a similar ordeal.

 

[Barefootone]

Hi Bob_G,
Terrific story and a great ending for you . I'm glad you found your wizard's wand.
There are silver linings out there.
Jeff

 

[Joseph Milton]

Bob,

Your story almost made me cry!

I have thoughts of "what if" and they are not pretty. I'm glad you found your baby!

Joseph

 

[precisionworks]

I just have to ask ... were you using the clip? I've never (yet) had a McGizmo clip fail to retain the light.

Nice ending

 

[McGizmo]

Hi Bob G,
What these guys have said.

 

[Oddjob]

That's a great story:thumbsup:. I usually find lost things when I am not looking for it or if I'm looking for something else.:shrug:

 

[Bob_G]

I'm glad you guys liked my little story

Sorry, no pics, but it looks fine. Mostly it looked like the front of my car, except with vegetable matter from the mower instead of bugs. The water that had to be flowing over it kept it pretty clean otherwise., except for the bottom where it was sitting in some drying mud.

The clip being loose on these pants was part of the problem - I could accidentally dislodge it getting something else out of the pocket probably. I know I loosened a clip at some point, but not sure if it was this one. Also, sometimes I'd find it in my pocket unclipped, which I would never do, so that's weird. The short length and head-heavy weight would almost turn the pocket inside-out sometimes when it was clipped. I should have changed lights for the summer - my C-Pack works fine. I'm trying not to think about how many times I told myself to change lights for those pants

I like the wand reference, small, powerful lights are kind of like magic aren't they, especially outdoors in the country at night.

 

[precisionworks]

I know I loosened a clip at some point

We can all appreciate that. New lights are set at "Rip your pocket off" ... I reset mine to "Not quite rip your pocket off"

 

[js]

That is a great story! (If you have time, the books are just as good!) Glad to hear you found your McGizmo!

Mayo

Beg to differ, Mayo! The books are much, much better!

 

[HoopleHead]

:rock: on all levels

 

[FrogmanM]

Beg to differ, Mayo! The books are much, much better!

I must admit, I haven't seen any of the movies, but most say they are good, so I try to recommend the Novels to the "movie only" crowd.

Mayo

 

[ibcj]

That's a great story, but you may need to sharpen your mower blades now.

 

[matrixshaman]

Very cool story with a great ending! Nothing in the higher value department goes on my pants without a lanyard securing it through a pant loop. I can't begin to say how many times I would have seen a good light hit the ground or concrete if I didn't have a lanyard backup. I make my own - fairly easy and using 550 paracord with a couple connectors it's cheap too.

Just in case it's a day when Magic flow is ebbing a bit ....

 

[Bob_G]

Funny, the reason I like the McGizmo clip so much is you don't need a lanyard lol. They make much practical sense, but for me just another thing to fuss and fumble with. I need to tighten this clip though, it's loose even in my street pants.

I'm sure the books are far better than the movies - with good books this is always the case. They made a noble effort to capture the feel of the books (I presume) and they look great, but I really got the feeling of them hitting the high spots of the plot and character, leaving much out between the lines.

There was an interesting comment by the screenwriter, who got much support from Rowling, that she had just tons of background research for him to use. Except it's all made up, so the research is made up too. Pretty cool, background details on paper, on something that only exists in your mind.