Today I got a new key made for my car, and I've gotta give a shout-out to AAA and the locksmith they called for me. In this day and age, it is safe to say that service, of any kind, ain't what it used to be. But sometimes, you can be pleasantly surprised. Do you ever get service - again, of any kind - that is so good that you just kind of go "Whoa Nelly!"? That's what happened this afternoon with my key.
Tuesday is, as you know, Golden Agers day. I always take Pearl to church for the GA meeting, which lasts from Noon to 2pm. I wanted to take care of The Key Thing today, having giving up on finding my lost one. It probably fell into the same Black Hole where single laundry socks go, and also Small Round Food Items That Fall On The Kitchen Floor and are never seen again. Remember Seinfeld's Grape? (was it a grape? Well anyway, it disappeared). Things fall on kitchen floors and Simply Vanish, as you know. And so went my keys last Friday.
But today, I got a kind of Return Karma : After picking Pearl up at 2pm, I called Triple A to inquire if they provided locksmith services, I was told that they do, but of course it was not free of charge as are the simple roadside services they provide. However, there was a 60 Dollar Discount. That was the first cool thing, sixty bucks saved right off the bat. The lady called a local locksmith, gave me the discounted price right over the phone (not cheap but not too bad, about what you'd expect), and then told me that the locksmith would arrive "within the hour". I had brought a book from home, my EVH biography, to read while I waited. But before I could even pick it up, the locksmith was pulling into Pearl's driveway, about 15 minutes after I called. After showing him my registration and all of that, and signing the form, I went back in the house, looked at Facebook for a few minutes, and then was gonna go kick back with my Edward Van Halen book. In my Googling, I had read that making new keys can take at least an hour, and sometimes longer. Once, in 1995 I lost a set of keys to my Dad's car, at Edwards Air Force Base of all places! Maybe I will tell that story if I'm not too tired. But my point is that, on that occasion, it took the locksmith more than an hour to make a new key, and it was an involved process.
This time? Well, I never had a chance to read my book. The guy finished making the key in 20 minutes. So, all told, it only took about 40 minutes from the time I called AAA until I had the finished key in my hand.
Now that is what I call Incredible Service. That's as good as it gets, and it made my day. :)
So now I have my car back, at least till the next smog test in February.......and maybe beyond.
I will tell ya about the loss of Dad's keys at Edwards, and another time I lost my own car keys in Malibu Creek State Park. That happened way back in 1980. Normally, I would put the brakes on the Car Keys Theme after today's happy ending, but those other two instances were so nutty that I feel I must tell them........though I shant do it tonight, because the hour is late. Tomorrow night perhaps, Two more nutty stories, and then Be Gone!, Ye Tales Of Lost Keys.....
But man, forty minutes from phone call to having the key in my hand. That's pretty hard core, right?
I say "Yes", and so do you. :)
That was really the major news of the day. No hike, but a full CSUN Walk, and I also watched a great episode of "Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea". In Antarctica, an atomic experiment with plankton has gone wrong, and a husband & wife team of scientists are killed. The "Voyage" crew, on their Seaview submarine, are on hand to investigate, with other scientists.......but the plankton gets on board, and starts to grow, like.....really fast. It grows so fast because this is early 60s Sci-Fi, doggonnit, which is what makes it so great. That, and the submarine set itself, very realistic, and really just everything about the show. It was made more than 50 years ago and still holds up as one of the greatest science fiction dramas ever produced.
Elizabeth, I know you've probably been concentrating on other things in recent weeks, but I did see a post today, via your friend Morgin, which made me thing that maybe you are still reading, at least once in a while. It was her post about getting locked out of her room and having to cut the doorknob off.
The actual experience would not have been particularly funny to her, I'd imagine, but reading about was funny, as are most or even all Lost Key Lockout Fiascoes, once they are resolved.
Once they are resolved, then everything is groovy once again.
I hope you are doing well in all ways, in your new city.
Post a picture, or anything at all, if you feel like it. :):)
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