Nancy wrote --

>  JM> call and went back knowing it had to somewhere in the area and a black
SUV I was a few cars away from it was still there.  No
> 
> (Is that an instance of something being lost in the long line, after the
'No'...?)  

  Yep.
  There was no evidence of a break in, such as shards of glass on the
street or anything.

>  JM> wasn't totally stranded, I could get another car from Enterprise, make
it home, etc.  All was not lost, save for clothes, 
> 
> (more to that line, too...?) 

  Yep.
  I was more concerned about all the pictures I had taken, those could not
be replaced.  (I did have some early ones in the cloud, but it took
seemingly forever to upload them, so just used two thumbs, one was a back up).
  Everything else could be replaced: clothes, laptop, the car, etc.

>  JM> thinking if nothing else I might get arrested for walking on the
>  JM> interstate and have a place for the night).
> 
> You do have an interesting way of coping with life, I must say... <G>  I
don't think I'd consider getting arrested as a viable option... 

  I am also a long time friend of our chief of police, my boss is a LT in
another town and I know lots of cops otherwise.  I thought if worse came to
worse I could play the cop card. 

>  JM> news).  At the motel I found the room phone was fo
> 
> (OK, can't quite guess what the room phone was....)

  It had been disconnected a long time before since everyone seems to have
cell phones and it had been seldom used.  Why pay for a room phone when one
can use their cell for "free".  
  I have a 1947 Bakelite phone on a table here (no landline so not
connected or anything) which I refer to it as a "conversation piece".  

> And no charger for your phone, either...? 

  That was in the car.

>  JM> hooker and that was all I needed to be busted for that).  I took her
advice and got off the streets and back to the mot
> 
> ("back to the motel"?)  

  Yep.
  Then crashed for couple more hours.

>  JM> Sitting in the motel room, still feeling sorry for myself, the cops
called, getting more information, wished me well and hung up.
> 
> How helpful....

  For the most part I got the impression from the Memphis cops (other than
the woman I spoke to on the phone) they had better things to do.  Granted,
they probably did.  But they could have at least faked a little interest.  

> I'm surprised that the cops didn't figure that out themselves... or
> offer to drive you around to see if the car would be found...

  They didn't even want to get out of their a/c cars, they would roll the
window down an inch or two, ask a question, then roll it back up.
  The only times they were out of their car was to check something or have
me sign some papers.

>  JM> (a small hill) and at that point it went down and from two lane to
>  JM> four.  But if I were on Main Street and looked up all I saw was the hump
 and what appeared to four lanes of traffic, not 
> 
> (something seems to be missing there, too.... "two lanes with parking"?)

  There were two streets that parallel each other by a block, Front St and
MLK Dr.  MLK Dr starts at Front and crosses Main and continues on.  
  The section where the car sat was a small hill that went down to Main St.
  The top of the hill it was two lanes with parking on both sides.  Once
over the hump from Front, facing Main, the parking lanes were gone and what
had been a parking lane along the curb was now a turn lane.
  Thus on Main St looking up MLK looked to be four lanes with no parking.  
  I had to go up the hill several yards to see "over the top".

> What a frustrating day/night.... Fortunately the car was found safe and
> sound, and it was just a case of mistaken area.... Didn't they get the
> make/model/year/licenseplate etc from you off the keytag....? 

  They got all that when I first reported it.
  And the missing car was in their system when entered, no waiting for a
hot sheet in a day or so.  
  I would think if the cops had been patrolling at night, and had that
information they would have spotted it.
  Plus I believe Enterprise has some sort of GPS on all their cars so when
the office opened at noon they might have tracked it down as well.
  The woman I spoke to when I first reported it tried calling the 800
number but kept getting "your call is very important to us" message and it just
rang and rang.

>  JM> And yes, I would love to go back there again.  
> 
> And next time, get your friend's number ahead of time, just in case.... 

  Or maybe park elsewhere.  
  Joe
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