In which my personal belongings are like boomerangs

There are things about me that you might not know, even if you have been reading this blog for years, unless you are a day-to-day friend. The best example of this that I can offer you is that I have this amazing ability to lose things and then have them find their way back to me.

Case(s) in point:

Last year when I was running the Ragnar Relay in Southern California, my teammates and I made a pit stop in a random cul-de-sac somewhere along the route. An hour or so later, a friend of mine (who was luckily on my team and in another van) called to tell me that someone found my phone on their lawn and she was the last person I'd called, so they called her. I had no idea my phone was lost.

Later on last summer, I went to Vancouver for work. I was in my hotel room taking a nap when the hotel phone rang. Who calls each other on the hotel phone anymore, right? I answered and it was someone who found my phone, called the last person I'd talked to - my Dad - who told them who my boss was and that they should call her (by finding the number in my phone), and then my boss told them what hotel I was staying in. Yet again, I had no idea I'd lost my phone until they called.

This also happened once on the BART - but we've had enough stories about me losing my phone, haven't we.

A few years ago I was running some errands on my way home from work in the Tenderloin of SF. (In case you aren't familiar, think of crack heads and then think of more crack heads) All I remember is that I had to fill the meter for street parking and then I went on my merry way. Later on that night, I realized that somewhere between the parking meter and that evening, my wallet had disappeared along with my social security card, and the $200 cash I had in my wallet. Bummer. The next morning at 5am, the police were banging on my door telling me that my wallet had been found and I needed to go to the police station to pick it up. I lost it in the Tenderloin and everything was there when I got it back. Miracle.

A year and a half ago, I went to the wave organ with some girlfriends on a Sunday evening. I was trying to not take a bunch of stuff with me, so I put my debit card and drivers license in my back pocket (normal behavior for me) and away we went. We got home, and I couldn't find them. We'd just walked about a mile on a jetty in the dark. Good luck finding it unless you put on scuba gear. So I ordered a new license and debit card. I went to DC for work a week or so later and took my passport with me as my photo ID and my temporary drivers license - and then at the last minute decided to go to London for reasons that we don't need to discuss. The day that I got home, a blind and deaf man showed up on my doorstep with a note saying that he'd found my license and debit card and I could go pick it up at the yacht club in the marina. That is a true story.

Fast forward to the present time. I bought some really awesome pink knit gloves when Amy was here at New Years and I wear them constantly due to the cold. I took a cab home a few weeks back and ever since then, could not find them anywhere. Blasted. Someone in a cab somewhere was wearing my gloves. I was coming home from visiting some friends in Queens on Sunday afternoon and all I could think about on my way home was how hungry I was. I decided that even though I didn't have any food, I had a few pieces of bread and some eggs, so I could make do without going to buy food on Sunday. Seconds after thinking that, I was walking toward the front door of my apartment building when I saw something pink sitting on the parking barrier covered in snow and ice - and a bit dirty.

I was telling my coworker about this ability that I have and she said to me: "I lost my hat the other day. You want to walk around with me for a little while?" If only this were a skill that could be hired out. Some people just have skills. Or luck - not sure which this is.