I once accidentally left my backpack in Nice’s tram, containing mon ordinateur principal. I was flying to Balaji’s Network State conference in Singapore and had no time to go back. I did get ahold of a tram operator and another tram operator had found it at the end of the line. I had left my whatsapp number for her and had to run.
While in Singapore I was able to get ahold of some policeman who made some calls and was told it was waiting for me at the Lost and Found inside the Nice airport gift shop. I thanked him and made 24 hour layover in Nice.
Well, getting to the airport, I came tk this shop. I asked about the “sac a dos gris” in the other room. They checked their ordinateur: “NO, je suis desolee”. Sorry sir! I said you definitely have it, can you please go to that other room and check? “No sorry we cannot. It is not here. After a week we give things to the municipal lost and found. At the polics station. Go there.”
The day was ending (French govt services work til 4pm) so I raced to the municipal police station in Nice. I arrive and they have a bunch of keys and other things people lost around the city. I barely speak French but luckily a middle-aged lady was there who spoke good English. She helped me ask them. “No. Sorry. It is not here.” Are they sure? “Yes, we checked. Not here.”
She gave me a ride on her vespa (she had a motorcycle) and I treated her to dinner while we discussed the situation. We agreed I should go to the central police station after that and file a missing item report. Which I did (spoiler alert: doesn’t do anything, but standing in line is less than in US cities).
That night I chose to stay at some rinkydink place in Nice, because why not (I was by myself) and got up around 4am to take the bus to the tram network’s lost and found — the last place it could be. I would have aittle time before my flight.
In the morning I got up early and got to that Lost and Found, before my flight. I had one hour. It was located near a university, and after wandering around I had found the little enclave. The staff there were very nice — but they didn’t have it either!
I flew home, dejected. My backups hadn’t been perfect; I had a lot of stuff on that computer, including an iOS App on XCode that I had to release to a lot of people! (And a couple Metamask wallets.)
Anyway I kept in touch with the nice policeman throughout. He went to the airport lost and found - the same one which refused to check the other room because their computer said it wasn’t there — and CONFIRMED that my bag was there. They had let him check the back room, you see!
But I wasn’t in Nice anymore. I filled out a “troov.com” report and explained where it was. They had found it! Paid for FedEx. Over the next few days thanks to the Tracking I saw it go to the central station in France and then sent back. Because it was missing a customs form for USA. I had filled out that form, but something had been wrong. I had spoken to the main FedEx customs-facing team in Memphis for a few days, and they thought it was in USA already. They were wrong. Their system was also blind to this. Anyway, I saw it go back to that airport lost and found, a week later. Lost about $100…
Then, the lady offered to come pick it up for me. She came, and was thankfully given this bag. She mailed it with DHL, and I received it. It was really overjoyed when it finally arrived, a month and a half after I had lost it! I of course sent the lady a payment to cover the cost. She did not want any other compensation. We are still friends to this day, and when my dad goes to France, I am putting them in touch.
One moral from this story is: French employees love to say “No” to anything and everything. If their computer says the thing isn’t there, they won’t budge even when it’s the easiest thing to just check the other room manually. Unless you are a local policeman!
The other moral - back up your stuff! Have SyncThing or your own machine in the cloud. Especially if you travel to conferences, like me.
alt Hacker News
I once accidentally left my backpack in Nice’s tram, containing mon ordinateur principal. I was flying to Balaji’s Network State conference in Singapore and had no time to go back. I did get ahold of a tram operator and another tram operator had found it at the end of the line. I had left my whatsapp number for her and had to run.
While in Singapore I was able to get ahold of some policeman who made some calls and was told it was waiting for me at the Lost and Found inside the Nice airport gift shop. I thanked him and made 24 hour layover in Nice.
Well, getting to the airport, I came tk this shop. I asked about the “sac a dos gris” in the other room. They checked their ordinateur: “NO, je suis desolee”. Sorry sir! I said you definitely have it, can you please go to that other room and check? “No sorry we cannot. It is not here. After a week we give things to the municipal lost and found. At the polics station. Go there.”
The day was ending (French govt services work til 4pm) so I raced to the municipal police station in Nice. I arrive and they have a bunch of keys and other things people lost around the city. I barely speak French but luckily a middle-aged lady was there who spoke good English. She helped me ask them. “No. Sorry. It is not here.” Are they sure? “Yes, we checked. Not here.”
She gave me a ride on her vespa (she had a motorcycle) and I treated her to dinner while we discussed the situation. We agreed I should go to the central police station after that and file a missing item report. Which I did (spoiler alert: doesn’t do anything, but standing in line is less than in US cities).
That night I chose to stay at some rinkydink place in Nice, because why not (I was by myself) and got up around 4am to take the bus to the tram network’s lost and found — the last place it could be. I would have aittle time before my flight.
In the morning I got up early and got to that Lost and Found, before my flight. I had one hour. It was located near a university, and after wandering around I had found the little enclave. The staff there were very nice — but they didn’t have it either!
I flew home, dejected. My backups hadn’t been perfect; I had a lot of stuff on that computer, including an iOS App on XCode that I had to release to a lot of people! (And a couple Metamask wallets.)
Anyway I kept in touch with the nice policeman throughout. He went to the airport lost and found - the same one which refused to check the other room because their computer said it wasn’t there — and CONFIRMED that my bag was there. They had let him check the back room, you see!
But I wasn’t in Nice anymore. I filled out a “troov.com” report and explained where it was. They had found it! Paid for FedEx. Over the next few days thanks to the Tracking I saw it go to the central station in France and then sent back. Because it was missing a customs form for USA. I had filled out that form, but something had been wrong. I had spoken to the main FedEx customs-facing team in Memphis for a few days, and they thought it was in USA already. They were wrong. Their system was also blind to this. Anyway, I saw it go back to that airport lost and found, a week later. Lost about $100…
Then, the lady offered to come pick it up for me. She came, and was thankfully given this bag. She mailed it with DHL, and I received it. It was really overjoyed when it finally arrived, a month and a half after I had lost it! I of course sent the lady a payment to cover the cost. She did not want any other compensation. We are still friends to this day, and when my dad goes to France, I am putting them in touch.
One moral from this story is: French employees love to say “No” to anything and everything. If their computer says the thing isn’t there, they won’t budge even when it’s the easiest thing to just check the other room manually. Unless you are a local policeman!
The other moral - back up your stuff! Have SyncThing or your own machine in the cloud. Especially if you travel to conferences, like me.