lost N found...

i've been working long hours... crunching numbers... re-crunching numbers... programming... debugging... and am feeling pretty burnt out... and literally under the crazy weather... we just had a couple of inches of snow in april! more in the north... and the trees are just releasing their spores and pollen too... so it's all helping me keep sane...

felt awful yesterday and decided to leave work at lunch time to go home and try to get some rest and work from home instead... at least that was the grand plan.

i got onto the lightrail and plonked myself onto the side seats that are located in the middle of each carriage, and was very much in a daze. my lightrail journeys to and from work are short. 2 stops! and i am out to catch the next bus homeward... 2 stops... OH! yes my stop! it arrived... i hastily got up and stepped out onto the platform... ran towards the bus that was waiting to leave the berth...

hmm my purse... hmm... no it's not in my rucksack... but in the cotton bag with my tupper-boxes for lunch and termos flask... oh darn... OH!!!! HELP. the train's tail was just disappearing into the distance.... aaaahhhh!

tried to explain my brief spell of lack of concentration leading to the mishap to the bus driver and asking if he could contact the rail controller or someone... he gave me a number to dial and i got to speak to the lost&found department and reported the mishap while trying to catch the next lightrail downtown, in attempt to catch the previous train.

i will have literally 2 mins to hop across the platform when i got to the very end of the tracks to speak to the driver who's supposedly driving the other train wherein i've left my lunch bag... before he headed backwards in the opposite direction... 2 mins!

my heart was racing... and the thought of missing the other train and all that could have happened from the time i lost my wee bag to if and when i get to catch the driver tormented me... anyone could have seen it, picked it up and walked away with it... and people do! i've IDs from various countries... cards i don't even want to report lost... oh my goodness! how could i have been so careless?!?!? arrrggggh... and i am feeling awful enough... i don't really want to deal with more stuff!!! cringe...

i have only me, myself, and i... to blame... if anything awful happened...

the train i was on had to make a stop at another station along its route for the occasional staff-change... the extra delay meant i couldn't catch the previous train at the end of the tracks as suggested by the lost&found personnel... i rang the MetroTransit phoneline again... the lost&found personnel i next spoke to suggested that i got off at the stop before the last and the previous train should be heading towards that station... and a note will be sent to the driver to let him know...

i got off and not long after saw the lightrail approaching from the other end... got to the end where the driver would be stopping and hoped for the best... he smiled and opened the driver's window and asked if the beige cotton bag belonged to me. i could hardly believe it! nodding my head i said yes!!! and offered my name as a form of identification... everything was still in there, he reassured. and true to his words, everything was.

i couldn't thank him enough... and all the honest people who had the good heart to leave it where it was. oh my! you don't know how relieved i felt... and how much more awake i was!

what a crazy adventure... and how lucky i was... doubly lucky -- 1) not to have encountered rail-ticket-masters who check if you have a valid rail-ticket, and 2) for retrieving my belongings intact!!! so i could actually go home... phew.

posted by ~overacuppa~ on Thursday, 5 April, 2007 at 15:56 hrs