We spent two days on the set of Night at the Museum 2 on Monday and Tuesday. We were on the set with Ben Stiller. He's such a nice guy, very down-to-earth.
The Wednesday shooting was canceled, so I decided to head down the States to import my car, which had been sitting in the Bellingham International Airport parking lot for 12 days.
I picked up the car and drove to Blaine, Wash., to get the title, which my Mom mailed there. (It's sort of my U.S. address for parcels and priority mail.)
As I was driving to US customs to export the car, I pulled over to look at a map. Then, way in the distance, I saw a police car with sirens on. "Good thing I pulled over so he can pass me," I thought.
Well, he didn't pass me. He pulled up behind me, then got out and told me I had been driving 40 mph in a 25 mph zone. He said this is a neighborhood with children. I asked, "Are you going to give me a ticket. I just moved here, and I really can't afford it." He said, "You were going pretty fast." Then he went back to his car and I could see him writing up the ticket. A few minutes later, he walked up, and I could see him holding the yellow ticket.
"I rarely do this," he said, "but I'm just going to give you a written warning." I was so relieved.
I then got my title stamped to export the car. I wanted to then turn around and go grocery shopping in the States, where groceries are much cheaper. But the US officer said I had to enter Canada, then I could turn around. So I imported the car through Canadian customs, then I returned.
I then drove on Interstate 5, which goes from the border down to Bellingham, Seattle and all the way to San Diego. All of the sudden, I just looked at my ring finger and said, "Oh, my God!" Where's my ring??? My heart started racing.
Dam! I knew it. It must have slipped off in the bus on the way down. The bathroom light was broken. I had to hold the lock on the door to keep the light on. Then the sink was broken, too. It was full of towels. There was only that alcohol hand cleaner crap. So I used that. But it was all sticky, like a combination of soap and alcohol cleaner. I dried off with toilet paper and threw it out in the garbage. My ring must have gone in the garbage with my toilet paper.
Then I thought it could have happened when I went to the bathroom at Bellingham Int'l Airport to clean that crap off my hands. Wait! I remember that when I washed there, which was after the bus, my ring was on because I remember trying to get the water off my hands without losing my ring, which had seemed a little loose over the last few days.
I went back to the airport and looked in the bathroom, including the garbage. Nothing.
So I left.
Later, I figured I would call there to ask for a lost and found. But 411 gave me the phone number to a guy who fuels the planes on the runway.
I then called the bus company, too, thinking I could have been mistaken about having my ring.
I even thought that maybe I hadn't put my ring back on after I had taken it off for the second day of Night at the Museum 2. I remembered putting it on in the morning, but I thought maybe I had just dreamt that I put my ring back on.
Anyway, I was having difficulty finding the right people at the airport and bus company. And, at this point, it's in some garbage bin somewhere. It's never going to be found. So I just went shopping at Costco and returned home.
I looked in the spot near the bed where I had placed my ring on Tuesday. "There it is!," I thought. "Oh, no ,that's my hematite ring."
I guess I was a bit on edge. No ring. I just began crying.
I placed a call to the airport using a number I found online. I was forwarded to a voicemail in an administrative office, and I left a message. It was very clear how despondent I was.
I could replace the physical ring, but this is special. It's the ring Luis placed on my finger when we had our commitment ceremony on May 31 and our marriage on July 4.
I was so depressed.
All day, Luis was working on "The L Word" as an extra, so I couldn't even cry on his shoulder.
But I had my first class in broadcast journalism at 6:45 p..m., and it was 6:41 p.m. So I hopped a cab and went to class.
Later, I picked up Luis and told him what happened. He was very supportive. He said that it's not the first time a guy has lost a wedding ring. I thought of my cousin Judy's husband, who has lost his ring four times. What he must have gone through each time! It's so devastating.
This morning, I got a call. "Hi! It's Patsy from the Bellingham Airport. Is this Rich?"
"Yes"
"We found your ring."
"You did! You found it. Luis, they found it!!!"
"We did find it."
"You
didn't find it???? What???"
"No, we
found it. Guess where it was?"
"On the floor?"
"No. It was in the garbage."
"Can you give me the name of the person who found it?"
"It was the cleaning person. Normally, the cleaning person just pulls out the entire garbage bag and throws it out. But there weren't a lot of paper towels. So she reached in and just pulled out a few paper towels. And she saw the ring. We can mail it to you."
"No, I'll pick it up. Thank you so much."
This was just a miracle. I will be so, so, so cautious from now on with that ring. I think I'm going to be checking it every time after I wash my hands.
I was so happy after I just got the written warning for speeding. And that was quickly replaced by sadness over the lost ring. But to get word, just a day later, that it was found, is awesome. I'm so happy!
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