NOV 4, 15 .. THE DAY THE AIR WENT OUT OF THE BALLOON ..

Julia Cameron wrote the following thoughts on Page 223 of her amazing book .. ‘The Right To Write’ ..

“When we start to write, we prime the pump and the flow of ideas begins to move. It is the act of writing that calls ideas forth, not ideas that call forward writing.”

Yes .. This is one-of-those-posts of mine .. where-oh-where to begin ..

So? I just begin .. Thanks Julia Cameron ..

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Titles for this post ..

THE DAY THE AIR WENT OUT OF THE BALLOON .. Cap

THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED .. Don McLean

EVERYONE HAS A PLAN UNTIL THEY GET HIT .. Mike Tyson

IF YOU WANT THE RAINBOW YOU HAVE TO PUT UP WITH THE RAIN .. Dr. Shaw 

IF YOU DON’T HATE LOSING YOU ARE A LOSER .. Vince Lombardi

OK Vince I will start with you ..

I .. CAP .. HATE TO LOSE ..

Here in Ulaanbaatar Mongolia I keep losing.  To put it bluntly .. I am over matched and up against a vastly superior foe that simply is better than I am. I find myself playing in a game that I SIMPLY CAN NOT AND WILL NOT EVER WIN AT. My foes are young highly skilled professionals and I simply am over matched.

Last Saturday the 31st of October 2015 .. To a large degree THE AIR WENT OUT OF MY BALLOON  here in Mongolia.

I now KNOW that I am a ‘Marked Man’ ..

The problem came to light when my smart-cell-phone was stolen by a pick pocket here on a bus in Ulaanbaatar.

https://babakaps.net/?p=14658

I recovered from that small blow to my face (EVERYONE HAS A PLAN UNTIL THEY GET HIT .. Mike Tyson) when I realized that I gave my smart-cell-phone away to the bad guys. First I used my cell phone while on the bus. Thus they knew I had a smart-phone. Then I did NOT hide nor zipper-up its nice little case on my left hip. So there it sat .. exposed to the world and to the bad guys. Prior to this I had been told by at least 10 to 15 people while just walking down-the-street to zipper-up my cell phone case. Repeat: complete and total strangers .. in almost each case ladies .. stopped me and .. pointing to my unzipped and open cell phone case on my left hip .. “Sir zip it up.”

After-the-fact .. Now that one horse has run out of the barn and disappeared forever .. I stopped using a cell phone while on a bus .. I zip-up its case .. I now flip it over so that it is inside of my trousers. To get at it they now would have to know I have a cell phone .. figure out it is under my trousers .. zipped up in its case .. in short I learned a lesson and I recovered pretty quickly from the experience.

Last Saturday my crime against mankind was this: I went out to purchase a warm jacket since I lost my down-jacket while flying here with Patti and Gullilble and it is getting just a tad cold here in Mongolia. I went with my friend Changer who showed me where I could purchase a nice coat at an incredible price. And I did. I have saved you all from the story of losing my down-jacket but it is one that I am not completely recovered from believe me.

Changer and I parted ways. While walking along the street I saw a Mongolian Ger here in downtown Ulaanbaatar and I wanted to snap a photo of the Ger. First I lifted my over-the-shoulder-bag from my side and lifted its velcro secured flap ..

Then I unzipped the outer zipper that keeps the bag closed .. and I then unzipped a second inner zipper and reached for my camera to photograph the Ger. Below you can see the first outer zipper and then the inner zipper where I carry my camera.

TIME STOPPED .. MY PULSE STOPPED .. MY HEART SKIPPED-A-BEAT ..

MY ..  CAMERA ..  WAS ..  GONE !!

Yet again I had become the victim of a thief.

My crime against mankind: While shopping for a new jacket I tried several jackets on. To do this I laid my over-the-shoulder bag casually onto a display case in the several stores I was jacket-shopping in. In more than one store .. Changer himself held my over-the-shoulder bag. Then when Changer was not holding my bag I actually covered my bag with my light jacket. So I was not just giving my bag away for free.

I AM A MARKED MAN .. I am an elderly foreign man.

A thief .. no doubt a pair of thieves .. they work in pairs I have been told .. had been following and observing me. At some point they leapt to the task and there went my camera. My thinking is now so jaded that perhaps the shop owners themselves are in on a theft such as this.

Do you know how good they have to be to do this? Then they re-zipped my over-the-shoulder bag. Oh No .. they do NOT want their victims to know they have been robbed. Lord God these thieves are good at what they do.

So what did I lose? A small throw away camera worth nothing on the street. But I also lost a memory chip with a lot of .. valuable-to-me .. photographs ..

AND I HAVE LOST MY MOJO!

Now as I am walking I am looking back to see if I am being followed. They may be so good that they do not follow people .. They simply call ahead to others advising them that the foreign man is approaching. This I believe .. They are young men.

AND THE AIR HAS GONE OUT OF MY BALLOON ..

In fact for several days now I have simply NOT carried my second back-up camera with me. When I am in a bank getting money at an ATM I am now constantly looking for the pair of thieves who are watching me.

Get it?

THE FUN HAS PASSED ME BY ..

Will I get-over-it. Since the 1970’s I have NEVER AGAIN visited the nation of Italy because of the terrible theft problems in Italy. While living in Europe I had to travel on business to Italy. KNOWING the customs officials themselves will steal from you .. WATCHING LIKE A HAWK .. they successfully stole items while entering the country. They are that skilled and they are that good.

THEY ARE BETTER THAN I AM. THEN AND NOW I SEEM TO BE NO MATCH FOR THE PROFESSIONAL THIEF.

AND I HATE LOSING!

Notice if-you-will my lack of profanity and strong words herein.

I am proud of that.

Through gritted teeth I sign off ..

I COULD KILL ONE OF THEM .. I KNOW HOW TO DO IT .. CAP ..

Oh .. By-The-Way .. As most of you know .. One of my major e-mail accounts was hacked-into this past weekend .. but .. that I can live with. This theft thing is on-going and frustrating.

Bye Bye Miss American Pie .. Bye Bye Mongolia? Time will  tell.

• ← NOV 3, 15 .. CAP IN MONGOLIA NOT IN TURKEY ..
• NOV 7, 15 .. I BEG YOUR PARDON .. →