Thursday, March 26, 2009

cars, keys and consistancy

One of my biggest fears as a bus driver is that i will lose my keys while i am on a trip. It has happened. Not actually to me, but another guy was hanging out at his girlfriends house and lost his keys--not able to find them he left the bus parked and had his girlfriend take him to the bus yard to get keys for another bus. He showed up late and had missed his group. I don't know if he ever found his keys--or if my boss found out...but it left an indelible impression

A few weeks ago i was down in Tucson with my bus. It was going to be an all day affair so i came prepared--I had books to read--my computer and my scrap booking supplies. The only thing i had not brought with me was food. My boss who had lived in Tucson had mentioned that there was a good restaurant in walking distance,and since Tucson is not know to be bus friendly that was my plan. I figured since i was going to be away from the bus i should lock it up well. I took the time and actually slide the latch on the inside of the emergency exit door. On the front door my latch is broken but i have figured out a way to have it securely closed. Since it is an air door I can open it to get out and then i come around to the side drivers window and flip the door switch thus closing the door, then gently i slide the window ALMOST shut--only if you knew how to open it could you manage to get in. It has worked well in the past--remember the key is to ALMOST shut the window--that way you can open it back up again to open the door back up--but if you accidentally shut it too tight--not to worry. That is what you have the emergency exit for. Remember how i locked that from the inside--remember how i was only supposed to ALMOST shut the window? Well about the time i remembered that i had left the keys inside the bus--I went to open the ALMOST shut window, only to find that it was not ALMOST shut--it was shut--TIGHT! I guess i did not know my own strength. Now I was locked out of the bus--with my keys inside. I thought about trying to climb through the emergency exit window in the back--just a thought because i could not even open that up--and if i had been able to--i don't even know if i could have gotten up in there. I had succeeded in "PUNKING" myself. The only thing i was missing was the video camera. I wasn't too worried--atleast i had not curled up in a ball yet, crying on the curb--but i was a bit concerned. I walked around the bus evaluating the situation--not good. I was proverbially screwed. It was almost a laughable situation if it had not been so dire--and to boot--I WAS HUNGRY! I thought about the window--and possible of having to break it--my options were limited. Actually about that time i remembered that this was the window that jiggles open while i am driving and drives me crazy with the wind whistling in. I figured it if i tapped on it long enough i could hopefully get it open--IT WORKED! I managed to loosen it enough to get my hand in to open back up the door. I got my keys out--and then i proceeded to GENTLY ALMOST shut the window, much more careful this time.....and then got some lunch....

Last week in the midst of my car problems I found myself in the van. So nice to be in a dependable vehicle.Not that the van does not have its own issues. Recently the automatic locks have not been working properly. In order to lock the doors you have to manually do it--usually not a big deal. In order to have the van that day i had to take my daughter to school and she made me promise that i would be there after school to pick her up. I was out running errands picking up some food for dinner that night, and realized that i had about 20 minutes to kill before i had to leave to pick her up. I was right by DI and figured i would go in and take a look around. Since i had a car full of food i figured that i needed to lock it up secure, so prior to getting out i reached over to the passenger side and locked both doors. I proceeded inside and did a quick tour and I found these cool line drawings and bought them.I looked at my watch and realized that my timing was perfect-as i pulled out my keys to get back into the van i noticed that the van key was missing from the ring. It was lost. I had a moment of panic--i cruised around the store retracing my steps hoping to find the lost key. I went through the store and even inquired about a lost key from the help. It had not been found. My next thought was maybe i had left it in the car--I went out and looked--and wouldn't you know it--there on the passenger seat sat my key. Somehow when i had reached over to lock the car sooooo efficiently it had fallen off. Keep in mind if i had not locked every door I could have just opened up a door and taken right off--but NO! I was locked out tight. I called my husband hoping he was on this side of town--NO LUCK. He suggested that i call my brother again--NO WAY! Not after the fact that he had just saved me the day before--and never mind the fact that he would not let me live it down. I called my mom hoping she was around--and she was. In the meantime i went in to see if they had a hanger (not that hangers work on electronic locks but i was hoping we could hook the key) I inquired about a metal hanger only to find out that they did not have the cheap metal hangers that you could untwist--what was i going to do? Upon hearing my plight the woman at the register took pity upon me and called up some help--I now had two young men to help me look at my key through the window. Thank goodness for ingenuity--one of the young men took off my antenna and used it to pop open the window locks and then contorted his hand to reach in and unlock my door. I was trying not to be bothered by the fact that my van was so easy to break into--and that this young man appeared to be such a pro at it. All of this took place in a matter of a brief moment and i was still able to go on my way and pick up my daughter--thank goodness for more guys to bail me out of my blond moments....

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