Yes, that was me standing in the middle of the road

Yesterday I lost my wallet. By wallet I mean my money clip. I had it when ordering coffee, from my car, around 7:45. However, when I arrived at work around 8:45, for the second time, it was gone.

First a bit of background. I came to work twice yesterday because I forgot my laptop at home. I realized the error when I got out of my car, the first time, and looked in my bare trunk. Damn!

After five seconds of kicking dirt (I was parked in gravel), I got back into my car and headed home. After arriving for the second time, I got out, grabbed my bag and realized my wallet was missing. Used to leaving it on my car seat, I dug through trash and dirty dishes but found nothing of significant value.

My conclusion was that I left it at home when retrieving my laptop. Very plausible so I didn't fret all day. However, when I arrived home after work, the wallet was no where to be found. I dug through my car until my wife got home. Thinking my attention to detail was lacking, my wife then dug through my car. After finding my son's sweatshirt, which has been missing for over a month, she also concluded the wallet was missing.

Here is where it gets interesting. While I could cancel my credit and cash card, my wallet was holding a blank check from one of my golfing buddies. To make matters worse, he didn't even put my name in the "Pay to the order of" section. Basically anyone could find it, fill in their name (or most likely their buddy's name), and cash it for what ever amount they wanted. This made me extremely nervous, if you know what I mean.

After contacting my friend, explaining the situation, and asking him to cancel the check, I headed back to work thinking it may have dropped out of the car. I walked the entire back parking lot. Every single square inch and found nothing. Suddenly my phone rang. It was my wife and a Director from work had found my credit card and another check (which was signed with a static amount and addressed to me) while walking home. There was hope!

He gave her the finding's whereabouts so I quickly followed his tracks. After about thirty minutes, I saw a dollar next to the east boulevard of the road to Westcott. Ten feet further I found my dental card. And then there it was; the check! I couldn't be happier.

Thinking the other items missing (i.e. identification card, cash card, and medical card) might be close, I continued to comb. Right before giving up, I looked in the middle of the road and there they were. All lined up parallel to the yellow center line. My money clip was even there, though in very rough shape. I looked both ways and ran out into the middle of the street. A small tear welled up in my eye. The entire process took me about two hours, but it was well worth it.

I'm 99% sure that I left my wallet on top of my car the first time I arrived at work. After peeling out, it fell off and scattered all over the road. There are 6,000 people working in the building and most everyone drives by themselves. I'm guessing half use the back entrance. Meaning my wallet's contents were drove around and over by 3,000 cars (give or take). That explains why the money clip looks like a smashed penny. Ask me sometime and I'll show you.