What a crappy day

Weather wasn't all that great either. I had a pretty bad start this morning, and if only I knew how it would end. Actually, the end hasn't been so bad.

Here's the rundown: This weekend I've been the Hall Director on duty while the rest of Residence Life frolics in wild unknown on a retreat. It's not that unknown. Mostly it's a center near a river and there aren't a lot of people around. More rural than anything. Point being, I'm doing them this huge favor by sleeping on campus and responding in case anything happens. More of an insurance policy if anything. Last night nothing happened. Nothing has happened so far tonight, either. But I'm in a very old building on the complete other side of campus from everyone else and the room has poor air circulation. This leads us into today's crappyness.

Last night I had the window open so it was at least a little cooler in here. That led to whatever blooms outside the window to get it's little pollen bits into the room, which led to me waking up with a headache (I have bad allergies). So, I have this slight headache for a good portion of the morning which increases in pain and tension until about 1:00. I had left campus and headed home while most people had their Saturday morning sleep-in, had breakfast, played with the babies a little, showered, and gone to Target before that time, so not too bad. But the headache needed to go, so I took an Excedrin - best medicine for a headache of any kind. After some lunch and a bit of a rest, I finally felt well enough to go to the grocery store. Low on food, makes sense to fill up the refridgerator with the essentials.

This is when the day got really crappy. I'm out the door in the garage when I realized I had forgotten something inside - what? I can't remember anymore - and went to get my house keys when I realized I didn't have them. Panic sets in. No, I tell myself, I have them, they are definitely here, I know I grabbed them. No, I didn't. Apparently the one thing I needed at that moment I didn't have. I looked in the back seat where I put my reusable bags after I had closed the door. Not there. I completely emptied the contents of my purse onto the passenger seat. Not there. This can't be happening, I told myself. I began to panic. The panic accelerated my blood too much, and because I have low blood pressure (it's just as bad as high blood pressure) I started to feel faint from the rapid increase in blood flow. Oh gosh, I told myself. No, wait, there is a spare key in the garage for just such an occasion. I went to the holder and found a key. This will get me in, stop worrying. I tried the key in the door, and it went in but turned nothing. Oh no. I looked at the key. It's the one to the gate, I said out loud. Oh god. I went out the garage to the back door and tried the key again. Oh god, it really is the key to the gate! This is not happening. Major panic setting in, nearing hyperventilation, feeling really faint. I looked for my cell phone in my purse. Oh god, it's not here! I thought to myself, I have no way of getting a hold of anyone. I'm going to be locked out forever. I looked on the back seat and luckily I had placed my cell phone near the reusable bags and it was sitting there waiting for me. Thank god! I called my mom in my panic. "I locked myself out," I sobbed. "And I tried the key. It's the wrong key. I don't have any resources to call anyone." "What do you want me to do?" she asked. "I'm not there. I can't let you in." "I know," I said, "but I don't have any resources because I'm in the garage and I don't have Google or a phone book and I need you to help me by calling a locksmith." So, she called one and he was on his way. Nope. I sat in my car. I got out and paced the garage. I got back in my car. I waited and waited with nothing to do and no plan on going anywhere until I was back inside. 50 minutes later I call the locksmith. "Hi this is that person locked out of her house. It's been almost an hour and I was wondering how much longer it might be?" I managed to hold back the tears. "It will be about 30 minutes. I'm helping a woman who locked her child in the car." "Oh, I guess that's OK. Just checking." I felt a little like a chump, but not really because people should call when they're going to be over an hour from their destination. Got KFarr to come help me attempt to pick the lock. "Do you have a key or something we could use?" he asked over the phone as he was preparing to leave his house. "Uh, no. I don't. My toolbox is inside with key. Not a great scenario." I started welling up again. He showed up about 10 minutes later with paper clips and a few screwdrivers. "We'll see what we can do," he said. Yeah, we did nothing to help the situation. Finally, at 4:00 (about 15 minutes after KFarr arrived), the locksmith called that he was outside the gate. I get to the corner to see him trying to beat the car gate closing on his Jeep Cheroke. I showed him the locks on the house. "These are good locks," he said. "Good to know," I respond. What do you say when you're locked out and the locksmith is commenting on the quality of the locks? "OK, so there are three ways to get this open," he said. "I'll first try picking it. If that doesn't work, we'll have to use air pressure. If that doesn't work, I'll have to drill a hole in the lock and it won't be usable." Awesome, I thought to myself. Luckily, he got to step two and it popped open. I've never been so happy about being home in my life! I sign the receipt for $80 - because the ten minutes it took him to open the door cost $50 on top of the $30 travel fee - and peace out Mr. Locksmith.

Basically the rest of my day has been kicking myself over the dumb stupid mistake of leaving my keys inside, and then spending an hour and a half sitting on the couch before heading back to campus for another night of duty.

Here's what angers me about the situation: There was a house key in the tin. Where the fuck did it go?! But moreso, why the fuck did I leave that damn key in the house in the first place? How did I manage that? I always grab all my keys before leaving! What happened? But really, where the hell did that key go? And then not being able to be in my house tonight after spending two hours locked outside of it really makes me angry. I didn't get anything done this afternoon because I was so upset. Didn't get to the damn store. Didn't get a chance to start my laundry. This whole damn weekend was ruined by being on duty, because I was trying to get things done before my mandatory campus lockdown. I hate duty.

Two hours! I was locked out for two hours! I spent most of those two hours trying not to cry. That didn't work out so well. And then I was just angry it took so long to get the locksmith there. Seriously? There wasn't another guy they could have sent while he was getting the kid out of the car? I never want to feel that vulnerable again. I hated it. I hated feeling stupid for leaving the key in the first place. I'm angry at myself for that.

Plus side, the locksmith did say we might be able to file with insurance to get money back from the lockout. That would be nice.

Moral of the story: Have at least two keys in a variety of secure locations in case this happens to you. It was expensive, embarassing, and awful. I wish it upon no one.