Got the keys? Got the keys.

I believe that for most situations in life there is an appropriate scene or line from Friends to match.  Today was the episode where they all get locked out of the apartment on Thanksgiving because Monica asked "got the keys?" but Rachel thought she announced "got the keys."  The door closes.  They're all locked out.  Rachel misses her trip to Vail.  The Thanksgiving turkey burns, and so entered the the tradition of 10 years of amazing Thanksgiving episodes on the show.

I had key drama today.

So this is how my day started. . .  I had planned to drive out to base (about 23 miles) to drop off some of my Tricare paperwork (I had made the trip out on Friday but the office was closed prematurely for the holidays.  Stupid.) and make a quick commissary run (food is MUCH cheaper at the commissary and there were a few things I wanted to get before Philip arrives on Friday and to make a birthday dinner for Matt on Monday).  Well, there was an accident so already crazy traffic was a bit more precarious than usual, so I was pushing it for time.

Thankfully I had already packed my bag for school.  I got back to the house, dropped the groceries off and was on my way to the metro at the time I had hoped to set out. 

Well, I got to the metro and the South parking ramp was full.  I wasn't completely surprised.  I thought I had parking down - if there's anything left in the south ramp it's at the very top.  If the south ramp is closed, I can go to the north ramp and usually after 10 there are a few "reserved between 7am - 10am" spots open.  Except that today, the north ramp was full.

Crap.

I drove around again to check the two uncovered lots. Nadda.

I found a couple of metered spots and pulled in.  And then I realized I had fifty cents.  Great, that'll buy me about 3 minutes in this town. . .

I drove around to the temporary station parking, used my fifty cents in the meter there and ran in to ask where I could possibly get change.  The lady let me through the restricted area to let me use the "exit payment" station to make change.  Excellent.

At this point I SHOULD have stayed in the temporary spot but I stupidly decided to go back to the other metered spots as the temporary spots only allowed me to park until 3:30, and I had wanted to go to the gym after class.  So I drive to the other metered spots.  I pull in, get out of the car and walk to the meter with my hand full of change.  Then I see what the meter is blinking "out of order".  Not impressed.

Drive back to the temporary metered spot and accept the fact that I'll have to rush back right after class.  Good thing too, turned out that I barley had enough change to last me through the time I would be getting after class.

Well, I got on the metro.  I got off the metro.  I bolted across campus as fast as I could.

I walked into class 11 minutes late.  I had already warned the professor but was still REALLY mad at myself.  I had to interrupt a mock assessment interview which was pretty lame.  At the end of class I went through my routine of gathering my metro card, my student id, my wallet and my. . . wait. . . where are my keys.  They've got to be here someplace. . .  So out everything came out of my bag:  my binder, my books, my notebooks, my tennis shoes, my gym clothes.  I looked in every compartment and lining but the keys didn't appear.  I did this in-and-out-of-the-bag business about four or five more times.  At this point, I knew I needed to get moving in order to get back to my car on time before it was towed/ticketed.

I retraced my steps back to the metro.  No shiny keys on the ground.
I asked at the metro station if any keys had been turned in.  No.
I walked around the metro waiting for my train.  No keys.
I asked at the metro station when I got off in Vienna if any keys had been turned in (this was my last hope).  No.

UGH.

I called my dad on the metro but my signal dropped out. 

I called a locksmith.  They would have charged me over $200 to come out unlock and rekey the car.  Um, not my first choice!

I broke down and called Jana at work asking for Matt's mom's phone number (figuring she had a key to their house - I could have taken a taxi to M&Js to pick up my spare car key but I had no   way to get into the house anymore).  I got voicemail.  I had no way to know if she would even get the message.  I was in the middle of searching for Matt's number in my email when Jana called back (praise the Lord).  She gave me Matt's mom's number.  She agreed to go to the house and look for the bag in my bedroom where I had my spare key (the ONE day since I've been here that I hadn't made my bed. . . so embarrassing).  She waited for some workers to leave her house and then went scavenging for me.  PRAISE THE LORD she found the key. 

So, after about an hour and a half of guarding my car in the hot sun from any one wanting to penalize me for my expired meter, Matt's mom rolled up and saved the day.  Phew.

As it turned out I had scheduled a deep tissue massage at a local massage therapy school (I've been getting headachey lately and paying for a one-hour student massage is cheaper than paying to see the chiropractor for 10 minutes, so I decided to break down and make the appointment until my insurance is straightened out over here and I have a primary care manager).  I rushed back to M&Js.  I rinsed off in the shower (I was a hot, sweaty, sticky mess) and took off for the massage.

On the way home I had (several!) extra copies of keys made.   I always carry a spare in my purse, but didn't have it today as I haven't gotten down my "bag"/"purse" system for school yet.  I wanted to do books in a big handbag I have from England that I really like (yay Primark!) but when I drag gym stuff it's not big enough.  So depending on the day, I have my crap in different bags.  I am now going to adpot my mom's method of having an extra key in the coin purse of your wallet. . .

So, not a great day - but one ending with A LOT that I am VERY GRATEFUL to the Lord for. . .

* I got my insurance paperwork handed to the right person this morning
* I wasn't in the accident that caused the traffic buildup this morning
* I eventually found somplace to park at the metro
* I didn't miss more of class than I did --- the whole two hour lecture was based on the first 40 minutes of interview in the class. . .
* I lost my keys and not my wallet w/ my military ID in it (NIGHTMARE to replace)
* I didn't lose my charged-with-$73.25-of-travel-credit metro card
* I didn't lose my phone.
* I had my phone with me and phone numbers to call.
* My car didn't get ticketed/towed before I got there (!!!!)
* Jana got my message and was able to call me back from work
* Matt's mom was home and willing/able to look for my spare key
* Matt's mom was able to FIND the key (I had horrible visions of her going to the house but not being able to find where it was or the key not being where I thought it was)
* I didn't have to pay $200+++ to have the key replaced
* The car is not damaged.
* I was not hurt.
* No one else was hurt.
* It's all over now.

Also VERY grateful Philip is back safe and sound in England as of yesterday.  Too bad he had to go to work today and be straight back in the swing of things at the office today.  W/in 24 hours of getting back from a deployement?!?!  Not cool.  Alas, we are grateful we get two weeks together and so thankful for the job he gets to do.  On the bright side, the CRAZY amount of work he'll have to do in October will hopefully make the month go by faster.