I am an idiot

It’s been my habit lately to drive up to my mother-in-law’s house every Wednesday to check the mail and house while she is overseas for a few months. It’s easier for me to do it than the Scientist who is gone for a long part of the day. There haven’t been any real issues so far aside from the starting up her car each week. Last week it took quite a while to get it to turn over but it eventually did. All was well.

I went there again yesterday and started the car for a few minutes and checked through the house. I also grabbed some frozen meals from her freezer. These are meals she’s bought from other Sri Lankan and usually gives them to three boys/families (she’s vegetarian and these meals are usually not). Anyway, she has asked for us to take out the remaining meals and to turn off the fridge. I grabbed several this time leaving just a few more for the Scientist’s brothers. Or I will take them next time and clear things out of the fridge and freezer. I took the stack of meal boxes to the car and opened the trunk up and put them into a chiller bag while holding the keys. The car key dropped from my hand ( I realise this is what happened now) and out of habit I closed the trunk…With the car key still inside…That was my first bad move. I won’t say it was totally foolish because I normally hold onto the key when I am putting things in and this accidentally fell.

So there I was with only the key to that house and a gadget connector to recharge my phone in the car that I was holding for some reason. I recall that just before I shut the trunk I heard the car lock automatically. I think I had unlocked it, anticipating putting something in the front. So there I was with no key, no purse or phone. I went inside and tried to use the landline but it had been unplugged so was useless. I did have a good idea to use my Apple watch to access my phone. I was able to call the Scientist at work while standing outside the car. It was kind of weird to be talking into my watch right then but that is how these things work now. It worked and the connection wasn’t too bad either…at least from my end it seemed pretty clear.

I was able to confirm that the other car key was still at home. There is another spare key here just in case but it doesn’t have the remote locking features on it…I guess that really didn’t matter because the trunk wasn’t key locked and I could have opened it from the car. The issue was getting home to get the key. I did make a couple other phone calls in hopes of finding someone who could get to our house and bring me the key but that didn’t work out. I had contacted the mum of the guy I assist as a carer to let her know the situation and she said not to worry about it.

Next I went into the house and looked for any money that might be around. There may be a spot where she leaves spare change but I never found it. I was looking all over the place and then I even went to her car to look and see if there was anything there…That’s when it finally dawned on me that I could use her car to come home and get the key. I wasted a good half hour on other options when the most obvious solution was right there.

The trip home and back took about less than 90 minutes and I was able to drive from there to my job, arriving just about an hour late.

I won’t berate myself too much for closing the trunk on the keys but it sure was ridiculous that it took me so long to figure out the simple solution.

Well I hope that turns out the most idiotic thing I do for a long while anyway.