She was originally going to get the train and bus to Bristol, which would have taken an hour and a half all in all, along with a bit of faffing around between train bus and bus change. This no doubt caused her further anxiety. I picked up on her uneasiness and decided to drive her there. It's only a 50 (38 miles) minute drive... and a 50 minute drive back for me.... with a bridge toll of £6.00 which is slightly unfair! Ha ha!
Well I dropped my lovely lady off at 3pm, so I could avoid the rush hour on the way back to Cardiff. A quick trip to the petrol station enroute and I pulled up outside the house at 4.20pm. I reached for the front door key in the little box by the gear stick.... no, not there.... I checked the shelf on the dashboard.... no... not there either.... A pang of concern hit me as I called Amanda's mobile, 'you wouldn't have the front door key per chance?'.....'Oh no, I hope not.... Oh.... I'm soooo sorry, I have'. Great.... another hour and half drive I thought, and another £15 with petrol and the bridge toll, but what can you do. These things happen. I said my goodbyes, deciding that I'd try and contact Carl's brother Alex to see if he or his Dad had a spare key for the house before I decided to drive back to Bristol. As I shut the car door whilst saying goodbye to Amanda, then looking at the iPhone to see if I had Alex's number, a horrible feeling hit me as the car door shut. I felt all my pockets.... NOOOOOOO! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! It was, there was my car key jutting out from beneath a bag on the passengers seat.... locked in. From bad to worse in a matter of seconds. I called Amanda, she said she'd get the bus and train back down to me, I told her no, and that I'd sort it somehow. I headed down to the nearest pub, grabbed a mulled wine and sat down hoping to warm up quickly. Armed with only a jumper (no coat) in 5 degrees with cold sleet starting to come down I was not prepared for the Winter outdoors, warmth was indeed a luxury. I checked for Alex's number. No luck. I went online and emailed him. Once that was done I decided to call a mechanic friend in Banbury to see if he had any idea how I could get into the car. He suggested a small wedge of wood hammered into the gap between the passengers side door and frame, then reach in with a coat hanger to try and open the car...... I headed back toward the house, quickly warmed by the mulled wine and cosy interior of the pub. I then remembered I had an AutoAid Breakdown plan which I'd never used. I called them up, and they said they'd have someone out to me. I knocked at our neighbours house Anne Marie, explaining what had happened, she brought me in to warm up and wait for the AutoAid guy to arrive. During that time Alex called, he didn't have a key but was hopeful his Dad probably would, he would call him. I sipped the hot tea that Anne Marie had kindly made me and chatted with d her and her husband John, who'd arrived home from work. The AutoAid man arrived about half an hour later, and had my car open about two minutes later..... soooo easy it was frightening. It literally took him about 20 seconds. A rubber wedge was..... well.... wedged down the window rubber, then a long metal rod was slid down the gap. He then lifted the lock from within the door. Tremendous. Remind me to never leave anything of any value whatsoever in my car ever again! Ha ha!
Whilst I sorted out the paperwork Alex called to inform me of the bad news that their Dad didn't have a spare key.... DOH! My car is drinking oil for fun at the moment, a quick text to tell Amanda I'd be there just after 7pm, and that I was going to top up the Clio with 'car drink' before I began the return journey to lubricate her pipes. She texted back that Ruth said I was more than welcome to join them all for the evening meal if I liked, and even stay on for the night if I liked. Very kind!
Well I finally arrived home at 8.30pm, not a bad drive at this time in the evening, and as a bonus, I dined on a delicious curry whilst there. A four hour delay in getting home..... It could have been a lot worse.... Though during that first minute of 'Amanda do you have the house key' then 'Oh God the car keys!' I didn't think it could! Ha ha!
Poor Amanda felt so bad, but she needn't have, it was just one of those things.... well two of those things acutally! Ha ha!
No comments:
Post a Comment