LOST & FOUND

Have you lost something & by a miracle found it? Post your stories here. Reply to this

I lost my Tuareg silver cross from Timbuktu last night...just heard it's been found...prompting this thread.

Went to Mali last year for the Festival in the Desert culminating in Our Tuareg Wedding.

Met a Tuareg trader in Timbuktu...near the mud mosque under threat from Al Queda as I write...didn't buy...he said he'd get something special to show me...thought I wouldn't see him again.

We are in our encampment in the desert at the Festival...a call "David...you have an appointment." No idea how he found me...laid out his cloth of wares...bought 2 Tuareg silver crosses...hugged as he left.

Last night wore it to a Blues concert at Camelot Lounge near Sydenham Railway Station...the premier World Music Venue in Sydney.

When home found it was gone...rang Camelot and left a message this morning...Tony returned my call this afternoon...looked around where we'd been sitting etc...no luck...said he'd look further.

Rang him back at 3.15pm...asked him to look in the street...where we'd parked...I'd hugged a friend goodbye who had woollen scarves...talk about a longshot...well heaps of parked cars he said...then "I've found it"...neither of us could believe it...pretty chuffed I must say.

I'll burn him some music from the Festival in Thank You...made my day.




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In 1989, when I lived in London I lost 300 £ that hurt quite a bit to lose.

I had put all my laundry together and went to the laundry place around the corner from the hovel where I lived. When my laundry was half done, I realised that I had left 300£ cash in one of my jeans pockets. I then, had to wait until may laundry finished washing, and hope the money survived.

When the washing machine stopped and finally let me open its door, I searched through all my clothes and inside the washing machine, and at the side of the washing machine where I had tossed my laundry carrying bag, and even behind the washing machine just in case.

I was down in the dumps about the lost money, and slumped off home while considering if some chocolate or something else would be a nice treat to cheer me up, or at least make some part of me feel good.

I got back to my flat, which was a real dump of a place, where a lot of people lived, and people came and left often. It was cheap and uncheerful, and not a place where you could leave your family heirlooms not nailed down.

When I got back with my chocolate and coconut icecream that I decided was the consolation I needed, I was amazed to see my 300 £ on my bed, where I had quickly got my laundry together earlier. I wonder what my house mates would have blown my precious 300£ on if they had seen it before I did. Things were always being stolen there. Even food could not be left in the kitchen, unless you were trying to get rid of it, so the chances of that money being stolen were about the odds of maybe winning the lottery. Reply to this

Yesterday I hope I returned a jacket. I spotted a motorcycle jacket at the gas station. It was an expensive one, as it was a heated plug in one for a motorcycle. I remembered the guy pulling away just before that and spotted him at the hotel next door. I asked him about his jacket and told him it was at the gas station. Sturgis is on right now so we have a huge number of bikes in the area. Reply to this

When I was a kid I earnt $1 for carrying a golf bag on my shoulder for 4 hours at a private golf course each Saturday...became really good at finding my players' golf balls...got so good at it I was called "Sherlock Sharp Eyes".

Years later at a Ski Lodge at Thredbo...after breakfast getting ready for the day, Denise discovered the diamond was missing from her Engagement ring...calamity.

We pulled our room apart...searched the lodge, breakfast area etc...seemed impossible...could be anywhere.

Yet all my life I have been known for my determination...I do not easily give up...and this was a special diamond...from my grandmother...specially set in Denise's ring.

I laid on the wooden floor of the large eating area...eyes following the floor surface...saw a momentary flash about 10 metres away...zoomed in.

The diamond may have winked at me when I picked it up.

I sure picked up bonus Brownie Points that day!
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Not a very careful person, especially where material possessions are concerned, I've lost many things. Once in Guatemala and once in Florence, all of my money was pilfered, but I knew those who took it needed it more than I. My backpack and all my possessions were stolen in England, but then my load was lighter, especially of the second-hand books I'd been amassing!

However, I've also had lots of found/returned treasures:

1) diamond engagement ring. We lived in a mountain cabin when I lost my ring. Having no garbage pick up, we tossed out trash in big dumpsters in the campground across the road. After ransacking the house, we went dumpster diving and found the ring. Losing the ring was a metaphor--I later lost the guy too.

2) opal ring my jeweler brother had made me. Three years after the loss, I was cleaning out my VW bug to sell it before hitting the road. There, under a floor mat was the ring. Perhaps I should have cleaned the car more often.

3&4) my aunt's pearl ring and my wallet--both lost in parking lots at the university where I teach, both returned to Lost and Found.

5) my bike. Being a slacker, I didn't always lock the bike, and it was stolen twice. Both times, I later spotted it and just hopped on it and returned home. Easy come, easy go! Reply to this

A strange, and totally true thing happened when I walked the Camino de Santiago two years ago.

After leaving St Jean-Pied-de-Port and while climbing up the pass to Spain, I reflected on a few supplies that I needed. I had run out of laundry clothes wash liquid, the camping gas cylinder was almost empty and I was almost out of contact lens solution. As I walked I thought about the old shoes I used in the evening how worn they were.

At the top of the pass on the Spanish frontier, as the wind howled, I stopped in an emergency hut for lunch. As I left, checking I had not left anything behind, there, on the bench, was a tube of liquid laundry detergent!

Mildly amused, I continued to Roncesvalles on the other side of the mountain.

A huge dormitory awaited and in the basement, near the showers and internet area, was a shelf where walkers could leave what they did not want and pick up anything they needed.

Side by side lay three items. A new sealed bottle of contact lens solution, a full gas cylinder ( the same make as my stove!), and a pair of very comfortable casual shoes. I tried them on - a perfect fit!

So having needed something, but not lost, they appeared. Sometimes when you wish for something you have lost, you will find it again! Yes taracloud - magic happens!
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in response to Msg: #159981

I actually lost my engagement ring when doing some gardening (which I did not know at the time) and was really devastated by the fact... looked everywhere and nothing. Tomek was clearing some stuff from the garden and found one of my gloves which contained the ring that must have slipped from my finger .. he came home though the back door, went down on his knee and asked me to marry him again.... I wanted to cry I was so happy;-)

B Reply to this

of course...we were already married for like 4 yeahs but still it was a great moment hahaha
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Wow Roosta, not only dropping your camera over a bridge into a river but having it found undamaged hanging in a bush. hope the pictures were as excellent as your good fortune! Reply to this