Rule of Threes?

I was looking forward to this 3-day weekend.  March will be an impossibly busy month, so planned to get ahead and have my apartment in perfect order to be ready to deal with a hectic schedule.  I was also planning to finally shovel out my storage conex and get my skis out; I haven't been skiing at all this year, and the combination of more light and warmer weather is making for some beautiful days.  That was the plan.

Friday I got a call from a neighbor headed out of town...could I cat, dog and goldfish sit?  Sure.  So, after hanging out with the critters that night, I headed to bed after a long week.  The next morning, on my way to check on the neighbor's pets, I notice their snow machine is moved around.  My thoughts:  concern that someone was trying to steal it, relief that it was still there, I should let them know.  It wasn't until my way back home that I noticed what was actually missing...my Honda!  My thoughts:  incredulity that this happened again, dismay that it happened again, embarrassment that it happened again (because I didn't have it chained up the night before).  This was the third time it has been stolen, second from the same location.  The last time it happened, the police officer told me it was kind of my fault for not having it locked up.  Of course, fundamentally, it wasn't my fault, but there is a reason you end up with adages such as, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me."  Apparently I'm a slow learner.  After last time, I had been faithfully locking it up.  Then, I got complacent.  I did, however, have my bike locked up.  I was so focused on the ATV, though, that it wasn't until a few moments later when another neighbor came out that she noticed my bike was gone.  Somehow, they got the lock open, and it was laying there on the ground.  That bike was Antonio's, and it's just an object, but for someone to take something of his away from me makes me indignant because I'll never be able to attach memories of him to other objects, ever.  It gets harder to hold on to memories over time.

After it was first stolen

Saturday, then was spent on the phone with Kotzebue police and with KOTZ radio station.  Since it's the only radio station and only truly local media outlet, lots of people listen to the radio, and they provide the service of making public announcements for everyone, including descriptions of things that are stolen so other people can keep their eyes out for them.  I was discouraged that day and trying to find the balance between disappointment with myself for making it easy for the thieves and indignation at the thieves themselves.  Everywhere you look there are ATVs not locked up.  In the summer you'll see some kid's bike lay in the middle of the sidewalk for days without being touched.  Why is it that for certain people, if things aren't chained down they walk away?  Mull it over, and I'll get back to that later.  Thankfully, someone who knew my bike saw it just a block away and happened to ask why it was over there.  The chain was off, so it was just leaned up against a truck.  I walked over, brought it back, and locked it up again.  One down.

Sunday I started getting calls from the radio station.  I did a lot of walking, but no luck.  Finally, when it was almost dark, someone reported seeing one behind the school.  I took a cab to get there before it was dark, and sure enough, it was my machine!  It wasn't wrecked, and it even had gas in it still.  I can't get it started, though, so something's wrong with it.  Grrr!  I tried for a while with the pull start, but no luck.  My neighbor towed us home behind her snow machine, and I locked it up.  That was that.

Phone almost buried

Monday...Late Sunday night, I realized I didn't have my phone.  I traced my activity in my head and concluded it must have fallen out while trying to get the ATV started.  When will the madness end?  The next morning I walked the route we took home, and when I got to where my Honda had been, sure enough, down in the snow, almost buried, was my phone.  I picked it up, wiped off the snow, and it was fine.  Three lost items recovered in three days -- the three days of my three-day weekend.  Now I'm back at work wishing I had a three-day weekend.  I'm not ready for this week let alone March.