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Smart man!
About 1:30 in the morning the Curds and the Pickles were waging a war in my gastrointestinal region.
I finally got back to sleep around 3 AM (should be a song title…oh wait, it is!) and woke up around 8.
I wanted to get the Peace Man newsletter out, and it needed some final touches.
I reached into my messenger bag to get my computer case.
It was gone.
I panicked. My face went flush. I had everything in there! Not only my computer, but my iPad. My backup hard drive. And my backup to my backup.
I tore that hotel room apart. Pulled the sheets off the mattress. Looked under the bed.
But the computer case was nowhere to be found.
I rarely lose anything.
The sunglasses I wear? I got them in the late 1990s and still have every pair. Seriously.
The Swiss Army knife my mom got me for Christmas when I was a kid? Still have it, never misplaced it.
I went to the van. Searched under the seats. No computer case. I was in a pickle!
I went to the hotel lobby and called the airline. An automated voice told me to go online and fill out a lost and found form. Not easy to do without a computer!
So I called the lost and found at the Minneapolis Airport.
A real, live human being answered the phone. Hooray!
A very enthusiastic, heavily accented voice said, “HELLO! MY NAME IS BOGALE! HOW CAN I HELP YOU?”
Boh-GAH-lay.
I asked about his accent. He was from Africa. I explained to Bogale what I’d lost. He told me he would call me back.
A few minutes later, he did. He started talking excitedly.
“MR. MAN! I HAVE FOUND YOUR COMPUTER CASE! IT WAS ON THE FLOOR AT BAGGAGE CLAIM!”
And then Bogale told me he was leaving at 4 PM. It was almost 1, and it was a three-hour drive to the Minneapolis airport.
I was all ready to hit the road when Peace Man walked in.
He was calm. Cool. Peaceful.
I explained the situation. He made a few phone calls and then told me he had a friend who could pick it up.
Ruth.
An hour later I got a call from Bogale.
In his African accent he hollered, “MR. MAN! IT IS BOGALE! I CAN NOT RELEASE THE COMPUTER CASE UNLESS YOU KINDLY TELL ME THE NAME OF THE PERSON PICKING IT UP!”
I told him.
Ruth.
“OK MR. MAN! I GIVE THE BAG TO RUTH!”
I thanked Bogale profusely. Even called his boss to tell him how wonderful Bogale was.
Three hours later I was driving with Chase to meet Ruth at the Silver Dome Ballroom. It's an historic concert site in Neillsville where the Peace Love and Music Festival was being held.
I was driving a bit…impatiently. I wanted my computer back!
When a car in front of me slowed down, I started to pass and quickly discovered why: in front of them were two Amish people driving a horse cart.
I slammed on the brakes and pulled back behind the car.
It wouldn’t be great PR if Slim Man ran some Amish people off the road on his way to the Peace, Love, and Music Festival!
So I took it easy the rest of the way.
I’m kinda glad I did. Because I would have missed Chatty Belle the World’s Largest Talking Cow.
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