I don't remember leaving it or losing it, but I drove over to the Nob Hill Market and realized it was missing when I got there. I immediately went back to Valero but I could not find it anywhere.
I asked in the little store if someone turned it in. The clerk was very sympathetic and said "No." It could not have been missing for more than 15 minutes, but it was gone.
I drove home and phoned the San Ramon Police to report it. I was told an officer would call me, but I spent the next two hours phoning and cancelling all of my Credit Cards. So if an officer called he/she probably got a busy signal.
Tuesday was Election Day. I voted about 10:30 am. Then I drove to the Police Station and filed a lost wallet report. The Officer gave me a brochure on Identity Theft and all of the potential things that could happen. He suggested I use the free online annual credit check but I already subscribe to Identity Protection through Farmers Insurance.
On my way home from the Police Station I stopped off at Bank of the West and opened a new checking account. My wallet was one of those checkbook kinds and I had just put in a new package of checks. I transferred most of the money from the old account to the new one, but two checks were still outstanding on the old account, so I left just enough in that account for a few days to cover them.
I tried to log into my Farmers Identity Shield but it kept rejecting my User ID. Finally I emailed my Farmers Agent and she told me Farmers changed providers and gave me a phone number to call. I don't remember receiving a notice that they changed, and they should tell the old provider to take the login screen off their website or put up a message that the accounts have been moved.
I registered on the new website and checked my credit and records and nothing had been changed or compromised. I still had to move my direct deposits from the old checking account to the new one and change any stored credit cards for any recurring charges. Some of them I just let drop.
I scheduled an appointment with the DMV for a replacement driver's license and called to get the form I needed to fill out mailed to me in advance. I went down to the DMV in Pleasanton last Tuesday and signed the form for the replacement. So now everything has been changed, corrected, cancelled or replaced. All of the old credit cards, debit cards, and checks in that wallet are toast.
The only things left in the wallet of any use to anyone are about $30 cash, a rebate check for $15 from Hills Prescription Diet for M/D Cat Food, and the wallet itself. The wallet looks similar to the Madison brown leather checkbook wallet on the Coach website. This lists for $238 there, but I paid under $60 for it at the Coach Outlet Store in Freeport, Maine four years ago. So it isn't worth much now either.
I'm disappointed that whoever picked up the wallet hasn't called me to tell me they have it or tried to return it. I found a French Purse in the Nob Hill Market parking lot almost exactly three years ago. In fact I wrote in my e-Planner on December 27, 2009 that I returned a wallet.
I saw the wallet on the ground on the way to my car. I picked it up and drove home and looked up the address in my DeLorme map program. It was on Woodland Valley Drive off of Summit View Road which is off of Old Ranch Road almost to Dougherty Road. It was dark when I drove over there. The house was near the top of the U shaped road from Summit View Road.
I felt a little awkward going up to a strange house after dark, but I thought the person who lost her wallet must be frantic. I rang the bell (or maybe I knocked I really don't remember all of these details), and a man answered the door.
I asked him if "Name in Wallet" lived here and he said she is his wife. I said I found her wallet. He yelled something to someone in the back of the house. His wife came to the door and took the wallet, looked it over and said "Thanks," and closed the door.
I was really expecting a much more appreciative, "Thank you, thank you so much, I was so worried about this." Everything was inside exactly the way I found it. Nothing was touched, taken, or moved. There was some cash in the wallet but I didn't count it (or don't remember). I just left it as I found it.
So what did I learn from my current and past experiences with missing wallets? One is to be more careful where I put things, especially things like my wallet or credit cards. Two is not to put all of my credit cards and checkbook in the same place at the same time. And three, sadly, I am more honest than whoever has my wallet now.
