I can take the harsh "It's your own damn fault" comments, I know that's true intellectually.
What happened is since I moved a lot of my flying to SWA and Delta, I just stopped looking at my UAL miles. I had no idea it had been that long. I flew in 2006/7 and then for various reasons, didn't fly again on United until 2009. Usually I throw a car rental to each airline every now and again to keep it active. I just never saw this one coming. Yes, I know it's my own damn fault but the "stolen" comment is my emotional reaction to the loss. It just doesn't seem right. Whatever notification I was given never got to my eyeballs or I would NEVER have let this happen. If I had received a mailer or anything this would not have happened... OK, now I'm whining I admit it.