DEAR HARRIETTE: Regarding your column on the lost Nook: I have a method for finding lost items that is very successful. I would go so far as to say that if the lost item has not actually been stolen, this method works 100 percent of the time!
Step 1: Think carefully about where you might put the item if you were putting it away today. Gently jog your memory about the times you remember seeing or handling the item. Don't think only about where it should be (even though you will thoroughly check there), but also about where it could be.
It is very helpful to think about this calmly when you are in bed and relaxed, either falling asleep, waking up or temporarily awakened in the middle of the night. Let your brain take you to the possible answers by thinking about the item itself. A thought may automatically enter your mind without effort, such as, "Oh, yeah! I put it with my old textbooks!" Or, "It's in my winter coat pocket!" Or, "With my summer clothes!" Etc.
Step 2: Go and look in those places. Pick up and examine EACH thing in and around the area. Could your item have fallen behind something? Is it inside something? In between something? Under something? Look at each piece of paper. Don't just look inside bags of things; take each thing out and look inside the empty bag. Do NOT rush. Do this all slowly.
If you don't find your item, go and look in those SAME PLACES AGAIN, only better.
If you still don't find it, go and look in those SAME PLACES AGAIN, only better.
If you still don't find it, go look in those SAME PLACES AGAIN, only better.
You get the idea.
Continue this until you find the item, because YOU WILL FIND IT! This works every time!
I can't tell you how many times I have found something in a place where I had looked many, many times already -- usually one of the first and most obvious places. From experience, I now tell myself that the item is there, I just didn't look well enough. And I am right!
Hope this helps! -- Same Place, Only Better, River Forest, Ill.
DEAR SAME PLACE, ONLY BETTER: What a great method you use. The spirit of it comes alive through the practice of patience and trust. I would venture to say that if the item was not stolen or lost outside of one's sphere of control, your method will work. I'm going to try it!