The moral of this story is

don't place all your eggs in one credit card. I spent Saturday night dining out but when I reached for my wallet I found my card gone. No feeling quite like holding a thirty dollar bill with not a dime to your name. The waitress peering over her glasses at my embarrassed mug said, "Not to worry. Bring the money tomorrow. We know where you live." I backtracked the day's previous watering holes...still no card. Finally I gave up, went home and deactivated the card.

Sunday morning, after much frantic pacing to and fro and wracking my alcohol besodden brain matter, I discovered the card under careful watch at the local grocery store. Meanwhile several bills had bounced, sent unceremoniously head over heels back to their originator. Somehow I fixed all this and returned to the restaurant of the night before to pay my bill. Another crises dissolved.

One bright note...I ordered breakfast to celebrate, dropped ten bucks in the pull tab bowls and won $175. It could have been much worse. I learned a harsh but valuable lesson and made some extra "free" money in the process.