I GOT ROBBED while Painting in my Garden 🤬

26 days ago (Edited)

You read that right: My backpack was stolen while I was in my garden. 😤

Let me start from the beginning:

Yesterday started out great. I stepped into my garden, soaking up the sun, happy that my day job was done. It had been a solid day overall: interesting tasks at work, some coding for my upcoming @DIYHub curation bot ported to golang, and I was looking forward to some peaceful time in the garden. Even the traffic was tolerable his time. My plan was to paint a table for my potato planting pots - a relaxing task with music in my ears and vitamin D from the strong spring sun.

Because the weather was so nice, I packed my Sony FX30, a small tripod, and a macro lens into my backpack, excited to shoot some close-ups of ants or plants. (Though, as usual, I ended up not taking a single photo.)

When I arrived at the garden, I set my backpack aside, went into the house to change clothes, and got to work. While painting, I was on a Discord call with @vaultec and listening to some great relaxing music.

After finishing the table, I finally tackled the back of the garden house - a task I’d been putting off for ages. It felt great to be productive.

I wrapped that up, pulled some weeds, checked on the veggies: all good. I was still in a great mood. Then I changed back into my regular clothes and went to grab my backpack.

It was gone.

I searched for over an hour, thinking I might’ve misplaced it. I retraced all my steps, checked the car - nothing. I even called my neighbor, who spends most of the summer in his garden, and he helped me search. Still nothing. It became undeniable: I’d been robbed. In broad daylight. In my own garden. While I was just a few meters away. That’s the part that really creeps me out.

As it got dark, I walked through the garden complex with a flashlight, hoping maybe someone had tossed the bag somewhere. But no luck. My wallet was in there, along with every important card I own: bank cards, health insurance, driver’s license, ID, and more. I called my father, who knows the details of my insurance policies. Unfortunately, my household contents insurance doesn’t cover theft, especially since no one broke into a locked space or threatened me. In other words, I’m out of options, except to hope.

This morning, I contacted the directors of the community garden, and they made a public announcement asking for help/clues. So far, nothing except just emoji reactions: 😠😢🤞🤯❤️

I still feel safe in my garden. But clearly, my belongings aren’t. Maybe I’ll bring my woodworking tools home in the fall, like many of my neighbors do. I’ll definitely never leave personal items outside again. And I’ll stop listening to music in both ears while working there, just in case.

Wish me luck that my wallet at least finds its way back. The camera alone was worth €2,500 (just the body), and the lens another €500 - so I think they are gone forever. I’ve already frozen all my cards and now I’m scrambling to find appointments to replace my government ID and driver’s license. In Hamburg, that can take up to two months: unless someone cancels and I snag an open slot.

Friday is my birthday. I’d taken the day off to enjoy the garden and get things done. Now it looks like I’ll be spending it in government offices, waiting in line to start replacing my identity. I’m just grateful I had my phone and keys on me when it happened and that Friday will be my 39th birthday. Enough joy to cover up the anger and speechlessness of this event.

P.S. 4000 steps where made while searching my backpack .. again - wish me luck please!

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20/05/2025

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39 comments

@coldbeetrootsoup 74

26 days ago

Ouch 🙁 Sad to hear someone stole your backpack 😕 I really hope it will be found. Thank goodness the keys and the phone were not in the backpack. Best of luck Tibs ❤️

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