I was a 100% sure the keys were in the car's trunk. Well where else could they be. We had searched the chairs by the pool, we searched around the tables, we had looked with squinted eyes at the bottom of the pool and we had searched mine and all of my friends bags. (After what ensued I am using the term friends very loosely). And it was a giant bunch of keys, very difficult to stay hidden. The last I remembered was opening the trunk to get my bag, so I've had to have left them in the trunk. Funny thing about memory it plays tricks on you and desserts you when you need it the most.
After our lame and futile attempts to wedge-in a long cane stick through the door, I had no choice but to bite the bullet and pay the auto mechanic 50$. Having gone through the ordeal before (read caused). I knew it was a 2 min drill. Wedge the door slightly, insert the inflatable air pillow, pump it up and create enough opening for a hook to go in and press the unlock key with the hook. The car goes bonkers with the safety alarms (as it rightfully should). But it is at times like this you feel the need for circuits with artificial intelligence. Circuits that can discern between an actual break-in and a much needed "authorized" break-in.
I however digress, coming back to the 2 min drill. Wedge the door.... yati yati yata... and unlock the car. Then you quickly get in the car, pop the trunk door, get you keys and stop the alarm. It is absolutely imperative that all the step after unlocking the car are done with surgical precision and lightning speed. If you fail the security alarm will, and I am not kidding, they will wake up the dead. And trust me you don't want to be dealing with the zombies and a bunch of angry friends at the same time. So the mechanic came and did his part, the piercing sound attracting attention even from the bats. I did my part with "surgical precision". Popped open the trunk and.......
I am trying to build up suspense, but by this time you would have guessed that the keys were not there in the trunk. I should probably have told you earlier that this was my friends car and he is an outdoors kind of person. He had so much stuff in his trunk that you can take the car in the middle of no where and not only survive, but also start you own civilization. With the sounds blaring at the background we were scurrying through the trunk to find the keys. One of my friend bravely decided to run by the pool and take a quick look again. Maybe she was looking for the crack that might have opened up in the ground and swallowed the keys. A potential homicide was averted when she got a "ohh my gwad, it's so comical" comment from a girl at the pool. Meanwhile back at the car I was trying to fidget with the locks to stop the alarms, but to no good. The auto mechanic was grumpy cause we were 12$ short so he had called the towing shop. My friend after being scorned at the pool took the call. The towing guys apparently inebriated thought it was a good idea and great timing to make a sales pitch for his 500$ Celebrity Chrysler. We had called a friend who live in the same apartment to loan us the 12$. He duly obliged (for which I am very thankful, and I you one), but was very happy to be a spectator.
It was amidst all the chaos I had my epiphany. I walked across the pool over to the trash bin and peered in. There it was cosily nestled in a pile of beer cans, cushioned in what I am desperately hoping to be ketchup.
PS: After reading the blog over I do realize that you have take your girlfriend with you in the middle of no where to have a outside chance of starting a civilization.
