Like in anything one tries to do in life, there are always a few unexpected snags...

During one of the recording session John locked his keys in the car during the lunch break. He had to cancel the recording session as a result because of the limited time he and the engineer had. John also had a gig later that evening. He called around a few locksmiths. After waiting an hour in the sun, one finally came. The locksmith wanted to charge way more that what John was quoted on the phone so a little argument ensued. In the end John got his car open and went to his gig.

The next morning, as John prepared for another day of recording, he realized something was missing. He sensed something horrible. He didn't have his guitar! His prized $3500 guitar, that he just bought specifically for this project, was not in his car, not in his house, nowhere! He remembered with with a feeling of dread how he put it on the curb, near the passenger side of his car. During the confrontation with the locksmith he totally forgot about it and left it there next to some trash cans.

John had to call his engineer and cancel the recording session. He took a deep breath and made a decision to not let this stop him from reaching is goal. He was determined to make things work out somehow in the end. He made some flyers which read "REWARD: Lost Guitar. Please contact me with any information." He also put an add on Craigslist's "lost and found" category. Then he drove down to where he left his guitar and plastered the street corner with flyers.

The whole day John was battling thoughts that maybe he was sabotaging himself, and that all his efforts thus far had been in vain. In the evening he got message on his cell phone, "I think I might have your guitar, please call." Astonished, John called right away. He was little skeptical that someone would be so honest as to actually return his expensive guitar. The guitar was indeed the one John lost. Right away John went to pick it up.

The guy who found it was a surfer coming back from a day on the waves. Seeing the guitar next to the trash cans he assumed it was being discarded. "What luck!" he must have thought. The next day the surfer dude went back to surf some more, parking near the same corner where he found the guitar. When he saw the signs he must have known how much the guitar was missed. He didn't even accept the reward when John thanked him for returning it. "That's a pretty nice guitar." he said, "I wish I could have kept it"