I’m writing this in the hopes that my site hosting will kick back in on the 1st of March. So this is sort of a post-dated check until then. Speaking of which, on the way to my friend John’s office, there is a check-cashing place which advertises in huge letters in its window that it will cash post-dated checks. This seems like asking for trouble to me. If somebody gave you a post-dated check, I’d imagine that this means the funds won’t be available until that time. So you’re best to wait until the appropriate date set forth on the check.

This is all about checks and waiting.

The other day, Wednesday, I went down to the nearest Wachovia branch to start up a free checking account. I have one in New York, but it’s of no use to me, since there are no Washington Mutual branches here in Baltimore. In any event, I left John’s apartment, with a cashier’s check for $1200 nestled securely in my back pocket, with my wallet. The money was from a returned security deposit from our apartment in Brooklyn.

I loaded up John’s iPod and marched myself down there, and spoke with a man about starting a checking account. He asked for my ID. I pulled out my wallet, only to discover that the check had magically disappeared. I got a little frantic, but not panicky. I explained my situation and told him that “I had better go look for it,” and ran off. I retraced my steps back into Bolton Hill, all the way to John’s. I scrambled around the apartment, hoping I had put it down someplace absent-mindedly. Nothing. I raced back outside, walking all the way back to the bank, scanning the ground. Nothing. Went back in the bank. Spoke to the guy. Asked if anyone had found it. Nope. Left my phone number, but knew it was hopeless.

Next I called Drew, hoping he still had the receipt for the cashier’s check. Knowing he probably didn’t. Why would he? He said he’d look around for it. Haven’t heard back from him since. Said he spoke to the bank though, and that they can’t do anything - stop payment or issue another - without his receipt.

So I’ve basically resigned myself to having lost that money. Which is fine. It’s just money. Not anything important. I’ll stay on in Baltimore a while longer and find a way to raise enough to get going again in a few weeks. It’s funny: I never really got mad or crazed about losing that money. I was a little down for a while, cause my plans had to change unexpectedly. But now I don’t mind that either.

I wrote to my sister Rachel about it, and she said something to the effect of she couldn’t help thinking that maybe it had been lost for a good reason, and that I was supposed to stay here a little while longer for some purpose that I didn’t necessarily know about. This makes sense. I wrote back and said I agreed whole-heartedly. And that it reminded me of a Quantum Leap episode. Where Sam is just about to complete the task which will allow him to leap onto the next person. But when the task is accomplished, nothing happens. And then he and Al realize that this wasn’t the thing that they were supposed to do all along. And that it was some other smaller side matter instead. Something they had been overlooking, or which they had incorrectly calculated. I fucking loved that show.

In any event, it looks like I’ll be welcoming spring back from here in Baltimore, surrounded by friends. Which in the end is fine by me. I have been getting a lot of reading done. And sleeping. I started jogging again. Yesterday I jogged a mile. It felt fantastic.