What would you like to find? A key? An iPhone? An old email? A file stored somewhere on your computer? A labeled photo somewhere on your computer? Certain words in a text?

For the key, use the TILE app.

For the iPhone, turned on or off, use the FIND MY iPHONE app.

For the email, use the email search bar (assuming you have archived your email).

For the file you can’t find, use the FINDER search bar on the Mac.

Clicking on that file name will reveal its exact location at the bottom of the screen.

For the labeled photo, use Picasa.

For words in a WORD document, use the FIND feature of WORD.

For words in a printed text, scan the text as a PDF, then use the PDF FIND tool.

But what if you want to find your wife’s earring, or that piece of paper with your cousin’s phone number, or your eyeglasses?

Yes, it really helps to put things, like earrings, eyeglasses or important papers, in a special place. If I don’t put my sunglasses or wallet in my top drawer, I can go searching around the house for what seems like hours.

The only thing that keeps me from searching for my reading glasses is that I have one pair in each room. Of course, I occasionally carry a pair from one room to another – Oops!

So what’s the answer? Something no one apparently has invented.

I am talking about a very tiny device that can be attached to an earring, for example. It will beep when you push the “earring button” on your alarm panel. Well, I hope my grandchildren will have the luxury of using that kind of device.

Meanwhile, since I have scanned in most every paper I could find in my house, I am now moving toward clearing my bookshelf of nonfiction books. How? By scanning those books with a PDF format before I discard them. That way I can still print out sections of books I want to read at the sofa. Using my iPhone, I can search for other sections I want to read.

No papers. No books. What’s next? I hope there will be something left to find.

Mr. Ebsen may be contacted at robertebsen51@gmail.com