What a fun day it\u2019s been. I got to spend most of the day running all over the Twin Cities, which meant I didn\u2019t have time to study. (YAAAAY!!<\/b>) It also meant that I was driving for many, many miles without a license. (YAAA\u2013<\/b> wait a sec\u2026) And it\u2019s all because yesterday, someone stole my wallet. (BOOOO!!<\/b>)<\/p>\n
I went up to the YMCA in Woodbury to work out with my older brother, Brent. I know, after the entry about the spinning class and having Jell-O legs, that seems like a really bad idea, especially since I\u2019d finally regained the ability to walk up and down the stairs properly the day before. But we\u2019re trying to get in shape for an adventure race coming up this spring. (Adventure racing is kinda like a triathlon, except it includes other challenging stuff like kayaking, rock climbing and bushwhacking (over and under and through the woods to Checkpoint #14 we go!)). Basically, it\u2019s a whole lot of stuff that requires not moving in a straight line.<\/p>\n
Anyway! We\u2019re getting ready for a race this spring that\u2019s supposed to be an 8-12 hour race. Thus, the plan is to prepare on our own, but meet every two weeks or so for an increasing number of hours of running on treadmills and riding stationary bikes. Woo hoo! Excitement city—running in one place, watching TVs playing random channels and listening to music on an MP3 player\u2026 (That was my Christmas gift from Dad, but he didn\u2019t know about it until after I\u2019d bought and used it yesterday. If you\u2019re reading this, thanks, Dad!)<\/p>\n
So Brent and I got to the YMCA, threw our stuff in a pair of lockers, went upstairs and ran on the treadmills for an hour. \u2026 Okay, he<\/i> ran on the treadmill. I settled for a fast walk because my leg muscles were still in pretty bad shape—I wanted to keep them from buckling so I wouldn\u2019t collapse onto the belt, which would fling me off the machine and into the desk behind us, leaving me as a large pile of twitchy, sweaty human goo\u2026 it just wouldn\u2019t be cool. I have a reputation to maintain! I\u2019m someone who can handle physical adversity and not end up tossing my cookies on national tele\u2026 um\u2026 never mind.<\/p>\n
We eventually finished our hour of moving to stay in one place was over, during which time I discovered new muscles that hadn\u2019t been pissed off while I was spinning, but their attitude had taken a sudden turn for the worse. Thankfully, we were heading to the bikes for forty minutes next, which gave those muscles some time to shut the hell up again. I was kinda surprised that pedaling for so long went so well, but given that I didn\u2019t have a specific speed\/pace\/rate-of-motion-to-keep-me-from-falling-off-the-back-of-the-bike, I had the chance to take it a bit easier.<\/p>\n
The original plan was to go back to the treadmill for the final twenty minutes, but then we thought, \u201cHey, upper body strength is good! Trying to paddle an inflatable kayak with our feet would suck!\u201d After a quick look around, the only thing that would provide any level of upper-body aerobic exercise was one<\/i> rowing machine. We decided to call it a day.<\/p>\n
Next, it was time to hit the showers! We originally wanted to hit the hot tub to nurse our sore muscles, but there were two problems. 1) Brent accidentally left his swimsuit at home. 2) They didn\u2019t have a hot tub. Shit\u2026 So it was time to hit the showers! After a nice rinse-off, I started getting dressed. I was wearing a t-shirt that was too large than my frame, so I moved to tuck it into my pants and that\u2019s when I noticed something was wrong.<\/p>\n
I checked my right front pocket—nothing. I checked all my other pockets—nada. I checked the locker—zilch. I checked my workout bag—zero. I even checked several bodily orifices that aren\u2019t supposed to have things stuck in them (don\u2019t ask which ones\u2026), but no such luck.<\/p>\n
My wallet was gone.<\/p>\n
As we were looking around, someone asked us what was up, we told him about the missing wallet and the guy said he\u2019d heard about that happening to six other people. I\u2019d say it\u2019s nice to know that this wasn\u2019t an isolated incident, but knowing that multiple people have had stuff taken out of their lockers isn\u2019t what I\u2019d consider good news. We didn\u2019t find anything in any of the nearby lockers, so we headed up to the front desk.<\/p>\n
The guy working there asked a few questions, then took me back to the locker room again and we looked in all of them<\/i>, but to no avail. The thief could have been nice enough to take my Visa card and the cash and dump the rest in the garbage, but nooooo, he had to make life difficult. Bastard\u2026<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Brent called home and got my credit card number off a payment stub along with the customer service number. I got to make that phone call and have the card stopped, but it was too late—it had already been used twice. The person went out and bought himself gas\u2026 and pizza. Maybe stealing makes a man hungry, I dunno. Regardless, he wouldn\u2019t be able to use it anymore and wouldn\u2019t have much opportunity to go on a shopping spree with the ten bucks I had inside, either.<\/p>\n
In retrospect, it\u2019s pretty ironic how taking the contents of my wallet related to today\u2019s events. The cash isn\u2019t a big deal, but he used my credit card to buy gas—I had less than a quarter-tank and needed to fill up my own car. I ended up driving all over to replace other stuff that was taken, which meant I was driving without a license. I had my insurance card in there and my last activity of the day was a doctor\u2019s appointment. And I think the worst part is that I got into the Y as Brent\u2019s guest—the final item in my wallet was a membership card to Lifetime Fitness.<\/p>\n
We called the police to make a report, during which time I was on the phone with the credit card people. I was trying to connect with the Fraud Prevention Department; the police said that a bunch of things had just fallen into their laps and they\u2019d have someone there in about fifteen minutes. It was a race to see who would get there first, an operator or the cops. The operator won, but just barely\u2013we finished talking just as two police officers walked through the door.<\/p>\n
Brent and I told them about how we were working out that afternoon and we\u2019d been there about 2 1\/2 hours, there were only two charges made with the card, yadda yadda yadda\u2026 Not much they could do besides get everything written down for the time being, but they asked me to find out from Visa exactly which station the guy bought gas from to see if they could check the videos and pick out any potential suspects.<\/p>\n
Speaking of all the phone calls, there was one blessing in disguise. I had been running a little late in getting to the Y, so Brent called me on my cell phone to find out where I was. I normally keep my phone in my front pants pocket since I generally don\u2019t have any other place to put it (plus I keep it on vibrate, so when someone calls, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy in various places\u2026). Even though I was only about five minutes away, I stuck the phone in my jacket pocket in case he called back. Had that been in my pants as well\u2026 that would have been shitty shit shittier or something\u2026<\/p>\n
Once that was all over, Brent and I headed over to Arby\u2019s to grab some dinner (Guess who paid?). Then I got to drive home sans driver\u2019s license; shortly after getting back, I headed out again to get an oil change sans driver\u2019s license or credit card. Thankfully, the parents stopped by while I was there to pay for it, then took off again while I waited for the job to be done. And then I drove home again sans license. Funny how little plastic cards can have such a significant impact on our lives, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n
I was frustrated enough that I couldn\u2019t motivate myself to write an entry last night beyond that \u201csaying of the day\u201d (I thought it up while chatting with a friend who\u2019d recently gone through surgery, but yes, it\u2019s widely applicable). Still, enough happened today to make it worth writing some more. (YAAAAY!!<\/b> \u2026 Wait a sec\u2026 BOOOO!!<\/b>)<\/p>\n
The first thing I found out was that all I had to do to get a new driver\u2019s license was head to the DMV—Mom said they\u2019d know me from my picture in the system (it resembles me, except that my nicely highlighted hair was 1\/4-inch stubble on my head). But first, I called the Fraud Prevention department again to get more information about the charges that had been made.<\/p>\n
There was a code for the Holiday station (as opposed to a \u201cspecific location in Woodbury\u201d) and then the pizza place (I think it was something like P\u2019no\u2019s Pizza). Anyway, the guy bought gas at 2:24 and pizza at 2:37 (the charges came into the company in reverse order, so it looked like he bought the pizza first\u2026 sheesh). Those times don\u2019t mean anything initially, but when I glanced at the clock on the wall when the police came, it was about 3:00, so I\u2019m pretty sure the guy saw me take off my sweaty clothes, then swiped my wallet while I was rinsing off in the shower. Bastard\u2026<\/p>\n
Since I had my doctor\u2019s appointment that afternoon, I checked with Medica and they gave me my insurance card number over the phone. If I needed it at the hospital, I\u2019d at least have that much. Thankfully, it didn\u2019t have my social security number on it—if someone gets a hold of that, you\u2019re in deep doody. They can start applying for all sorts of stuff using that information and if you don\u2019t catch it soon enough\u2026 yeah, definitely deep doody.<\/p>\n
Even though the insurance card didn\u2019t have my SSN on it, I contacted a credit union and had a flag placed on my name anyway—I don\u2019t know how difficult it might be to buy a really cheap used car on credit with just a driver\u2019s license number, but why take chances under the circumstances? He already bought gas, I ain\u2019t lettin\u2019 him get something to put it in\u2026<\/p>\n
Then it was off to the DMV without a driver\u2019s license to correct that problem! And I ended up driving in multiple circles because I didn\u2019t know which building the DMV was in in that city! I had to stop at the courthouse and get directions from someone before I found my way there. (A brown sign on the street that says \u201cWELCOME\u201d isn\u2019t much of an indicator as to what\u2019s inside the building on the far side of the parking lot\u2026) I got in, filled out a form and had to pay $11 to get a new one sent to me. Did I mention that I didn\u2019t have a credit card anymore? Well, it didn\u2019t matter there since they don\u2019t take plastic; thankfully, Mom gave me $30 before I left, so I was covered.<\/p>\n
They gave me a yellow sheet of paper that\u2019ll serve as my license for the next 2-3 weeks (I should get my new credit card and insurance card within 7-10 days, so my life will sorta return to normal in that amount of time). Next, head up to St. Paul for my doctor\u2019s appointment. The recent weather we\u2019ve had was a sort of blessing as well. It\u2019s been nothing like the blizzards on the East Coast—we\u2019ve had something like 8? in the last two days or so—but it was enough to get people to cancel their appointments. Thus, even though I was scheduled for 4:00, they said to come in at any time between 1:30 and 4:00. I ended up sitting around and waiting in the office for a while, but waiting there was probably better than waiting in traffic during rush hour traffic (I needed to catch up on my soaps anyway\u2026).<\/p>\n
On the way home, guess what happened? The gas light on my car turned on! And my credit card was gone! Dammit! But I had enough cash left that I decided to get about $17 of gas—I pulled up to the pump, squeezed the handle, watched and waited, then turned it off right about when it was going to hit the magic number. The almost-magic number ended up being $16.99. (I decided to stick with that instead of giving the handle another light squeeze since I didn\u2019t have any pennies in my wallet.)<\/p>\n
I still have to head back to Lifetime Fitness and get a new card (which will cost $20, but of course, I don\u2019t have a Visa card or that much cash\u2026). Beyond that, I think I\u2019m okay. I shouldn\u2019t have to worry about too many more phone calls or visits to any offices that I can\u2019t find, I\u2019ll have something to show the cops if I get pulled over and I doubt I\u2019ll be visiting that YMCA again. Or maybe I will, but this time, I\u2019ll put a tazer in the pocket. Someone could reach inside, touch the little metal tips crackling with electricity\u2026 If I got out of the shower and found someone lying in front of my open locker twitching around spastically, I\u2019d know he tried to swipe my wallet. Either that or he fell down while trying to use the treadmill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What a fun day it\u2019s been. I got to spend most of the day running all over the Twin Cities, which meant I didn\u2019t have time to study. (YAAAAY!!) It also meant that I was driving for many, many miles without a license. (YAAA\u2013 wait a sec\u2026) And it\u2019s all because yesterday, someone stole my … <\/p>\n