A night in hell or how lucky can I get?

Seriously, I thank god that my name is Felix. Why? Because the deeper meaning of the name is "the lucky one". And two nights ago I needed all the luck I could get. This is what happened:

I flew back from Vegas on sunday. First to Dallas and from there to NYC. I was pretty tired during the whole trip since Vegas really was stressfull. Already the trip turned out not to be a good one. The plane to Dallas was way late and just barely made the connecting flight to NYC by running like a maniac. But I did make it nonetheless.

So I arrive in the Big Apple at around 10PM. And since it is somewhat late and JFK airport is very far away from Manhattan, I decided to treat myself to a cab. So I am sitting there. Got my luggage consisting of one big carry-on bag, my camera bag and my black notebook case which also holds my passport. The ride took about 30-40 minutes so by the time I get to my front door, I am just tired and wnat to get out. I grab my stuff and leave the car, head up the stairs and am just happy to be home. All of a sudden I realize "Fuck, where is my notebook case?"

I left it in the cab. In New York. Together with my passport which contains my visa.

Fuck.

My heart slipped into my pants. You have to understand that my notebook is all I have over here to work with. And I do not have money to buy a new one. Furthermore my passport was in that case as well containing the visa which allows me to work here. And I have no clue how hard it would be to get a new one.

Furthermore I have no info on the cab. But thank god, when I left the cab, the receipt fell on the street. So I ran downstairs to get the slip of paper off the street. So at least I had some info on the cab. Right away I called the TLC (Taxi & Limousine Commission) but they were closed already and wouldn't open up until 9 in the morning. So I was screwed. All kinds of scenarios ran through my head. What if a guest found it? Would he keep it? What if the cabbie found it? Well, I though for sure as hell everything was gone and I would be left with nothing. I was seriously freaking out.

Couldn't really sleep that well that night. Got up at 8AM and called the TLC at 9. After I explained my situation to the nice lady on the phone, she knew which cab had taken me home. And she also knew which driver was driving it. So she calls the guy, named Boris. And believe it or not, he found my stuff and still had it. I was so freakin' relieved. No my only fear was that it might be broken because some guest might have sat or stepped on it. But no, I got everything back today and I am so grateful for it.

Of course I gave Boris a reward for being so honest.

I really must be one lucky bastard.