About 3 this morning, it looked as though this would be a very unhappy post, typed on a library computer.
I stayed out of the Union Mission last night, not wanting to pay the $6 cover charge there. I planted myself on a park bench outside the Moxy Hotel, prepared to sit there ’til morning dodging mosquitoes.
At some point I dozed off. I woke up and pulled my phone to check the time. 2:03 in the morning.
Wait a minute, I thought… WHERE’S MY BACKPACK????? With my laptop inside. And my phone charger and cords. And my Ziploc bag of toiletry/hygiene items I use at the Mission.
All gone. Once again, I had drifted off and allowed someone to steal my stuff. Just like what happened last year. How could I be so STUPID????? Again?
Just as I was starting to rock the blog posts again. And now I’d be forced to post from library computers with their hour time limits. That would kill my joy for blogging.
I paced up and down the northern half of the Main Street Mall, looking for anyone carrying a gray Under Armour backpack. I thought I may have spotted it – with a man in a tight pink dress who seemed to be hiding what he was carrying, “Is that my bag?” I yelled out to him. He hissed at me and picked up a big stick and I decided not to pursue the matter. He took off east on Madison, at least to B.B. King.
“How much longer until the sun comes up?” I thought, reaching into my pocket for my phone. Thank God it didn’t get stolen too. Nor did my wallet, so I wouldn’t have to replace my ID.
“AirTag moved out of your vicinity,” said a notification on the phone. “Approximate location 250 N. Main.”
It totally slipped my mind that I’d put an Apple AirTag in my backpack after I’d gotten it. I pulled up a map in the Find My app and started reducing the distance between the circle representing my location and the backpack icon. That took me to a homeless encampment under I-40 on Main.
Find My told me to move around to help it find the backpack. I did, and a message popped up. “18 feet to your right.” That put me smack dab in the middle of a big pile of clothes. The owner of the clothes wasn’t there, but his next-door neighbor in the encampment, we’ll call him Harry, said he had been earlier – and he’d been bragging about finding a laptop.
I started digging through the pile of clothes. Yep, there was my backpack. And my laptop and its power cord. Harry helped me put everything back in the bag and asked if I could spot him a little money so he could buy himself a beer. I did.
Then I got the hell out of there, never coming face-to-face with the the thief. I lost some hygiene items and protein bars, but there was no damage to my laptop when I powered it up a few hours later.
God is good. And AirTags rock.
Back tomorrow with a regular news post.
I’m ponying up the $6 to stay at the Mission tonight.
I gratefully accept tips:
Venmo: @Paul-Ryburn (8113 if it asks for digits)
Cash App: $PaulRyburn1
Zelle: paul@paulryburn.com
Apple Pay: paul.ryburn@gmail.com