I typically look forward to getting calls from The Ring Finders directory for lost rings, lost keys, lost cell phones, you name it. However, on this day I was a little hesitant to answer the phone. You see, it was not just a typical WI winter day … it was -10 degrees below zero outside! Brandon had lost his ring in the parking lot of Erin’s Snug Irish Pub and Restaurant in Madison, WI. On the call, he explained that he was wiping the snow off his windshield wipers when he lost his ring. He did not have any gloves on (what was he thinking!) and when he went to flick the snow off his hand … he ring flew off. He knew right where it was, but after digging for awhile gave up.
Gold is extremely heavy, and when dropped into a snow bank, will drop pretty quickly to the bottom. Even though Brandon saw the entry point, he could not find the lost ring in the 4 foot snow bank. He searched on Google hoping to rent a metal detector the next day. He entered a bunch of different phrases, « rent metal detector », « metal detector rental » and « how to find my lost ring ». Fortunately for him, he found The Ring Finders Page and my blog. http://theringfinders.com/blog/Dan.Roekle/. He said he couldn’t believe such a service even existed, and there was a member right in Madison. He couldn’t believe it. He also couldn’t believe that I was willing to head out that same day … the same day that it was -10 degrees below zero!
I brought my son along on the hunt, and after bundling up, we headed out. We hunted in 5 min increments, because it was that cold. I am a pretty tough guy when it comes to cold weather, but with temps -10 below zero, you don’t want to mess around. We kept our van running to warm up. The problem with hunting in a parking lot in the winter, is that all the junk from the parking lot is picked up by the snow plows and dropped right on the curb. This is of course right where Brandon lost his ring.
My son and I are usually not quick to give up, we don’t like to leave a lost ring that we know is within reach. However, did I mention it was cold. We agreed to do one more 5 min search. Good thing we did, because we got a strong signal on the metal detector … and pulled out Brandon’s ring. We didn’t even look at it closely as we both ran to the van to warm up. Our first stop was McDonald’s for some hot chocolate, then to Brandon’s house to return the ring. He gave us a very generous reward for our hard work and an extra bonus seeing it was so cold. He could not have been more appreciative for our hard work and for finding his lost wedding ring.
Remember, don’t rent a metal detector, rent a Ring Finder!
