Wednesday, July 30, 2003 I really think I’m becoming addicted to my morning three cups of coffee. Its 9:41 am according to my little system clock in the corner right of my monitor and I’m bone tired. I just put on the coffee, should be ready soon. Good, because I need it.
You may be wondering why I’m making another entry so soon after the last one I made, which was only yesterday. Well, because I had a little adventure yesterday. Nothing to do with the cats or Junior, they’re all fine. As a matter of fact, Junior is doing fabulously. His licking of his incision is still minimal and he was almost doing his “foodfoodfood” dance this morning when he was fed.
Okay, so here’s what happened. After I finished my entry here, I searched online for the missing presser foot from that kit. I mean, how much could it possibly be? Not over five bucks, at the most. Ha, was I wrong. At Sears.com, the one for a horizontal machine (did I mention that I didn’t know the difference between a horizontal and a vertical machine? well, just in case you don’t know and you want to know, it’s how the bobbin goes in; some machines they drop in, those are horizontal, others you put them in so that they’re vertical; I found this out last week when I made one of my many calls to Sears about my machine) costs $9.99. Whoa! I don’t think I want to pay a third of what I paid for my kit for one foot. So, I call Sears. No problem to switch them out. *lol* I’m on a first name basis with the saleslady. I figured I’d take the shower, get dressed, and go down to Sears and trade the incomplete kit with a complete kit. And I would also buy the quilt I saw in Sunday’s ad, one that Brian also liked. I’d need my Sears card for that. Bedding in our house is cat related, ya know. Because they get so furry. And different quilts or comforters really can change the look of the room. A cheap makeover. This quilt was on sale for $39.99. It will match any of the spreads I got earlier this year.
I dressed for the weather. Shorts, a sleeveless cotton top and I put my still wet hair in a clip on my head. I got my driver’s license, my Sears card, the kit to be replaced and the keys to the Bronco. I’ve found it’s much more convenient to just put the stuff I need in my pockets and not bother with a purse. I hate purses anyway, I only carry one when I don’t have any pockets. I thought about bringing a couple of bucks, but what did I need money for? I’d be right home. Right?
Heh.
So, I get to Sears, didn’t take longer than ten minutes, even with the traffic light gods still displeased with me for whatever I did. I grab the kit, think about leaving my sunglasses in the car, nah, it’s bright outside (although muggy), I’ll just wear them on my head. I get downstairs, see Dawn, say “Hi!”, she says “Hi, Dianne, your new kit is by the register, ready to go” and I walk over to the register, the other saleswoman helps me, we trade stuff out (I had to exchange the instruction booklet because I’d marked in mine). That taken care of, I go over to the bedding department and quickly find my quilt, take it over to the register and purchase that. Then, I’m ready to go home. I walked up the stairs (I always take the stairs, never the elevator) and on the way to the exit door, I pat my front pocket. I feel a little lightheaded. I don’t feel my keys. And I knew where they were. In the ignition. Of the Bronco. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind I’d not taken them out.
I laugh. Great. Just what I needed. Fortunately, I was parked by the automotive building. I walk over to the Bronco and peer in the driver’s side. Can’t see the ignition. Walk over to the passenger’s side, look in. Yep. There they are. All shiny in the sun. Hanging from the ignition. *sigh* I walk over to the automotive department and wait for until a clerk gets unbusy. “Can I help you?” Yeah, I locked my keys in my car. *weak laugh* He had to get the number for mall security, told me to wait for them by my vehicle. They’d be in a little white cart or on a bicycle. Just yell out to get their attention. I walk outside, and it’s starting to sprinkle (the weather here has been really strange this year; it was raining when I woke up and we didn’t get our walk in this morning). I look up, it’s just an isolated cloud. I’m glad I kept my sunglasses with me. I walk over to the Bronco and sit. And wait. I wish I’d worn a watch. I’ll know better next time.
It was probably close to ten minutes when I see the little cart. I yell and they come over. There was a woman and young man in security uniforms. They talk to me, look in the Bronco. The guy has to go get the tool to unlock the doors. A slimjim. While he’s gone I make small talk with the woman. She’s been there for three years, likes her job. Said there haven’t been any vehicle thefts that she knows of, just the occasional shoplifter. I tell her about Junior, said I’m concerned that he might be licking his incisions. She said she likes dogs. (I find most people do, more than like cats; odd, I never get the “I hate dogs” response where I’ve gotten plenty of “I hate cats” replies.) We talk about the weather, she shares her ideas about “earthquake weather” and her reasoning behind it. I nod my head, although I don’t believe there’s such a thing. Finally, the guy gets back and starts working his magic on the door locks. I had to show my license and sign a form that they had my permission to do this. Five minutes later, the doors were still locked. This wasn’t going to work.
Groovy. Brian was working in Alpine yesterday and he wouldn’t be able to come to my rescue. I would have to call my mom. Groovy. This was going to be fun. When we went to Wal-Mart Monday, she had told me that she’d locked her keys in her car the previous week. Luckily for her, her locks aren’t electronic and she hadn’t locked the hatchback door, so she was able to crawl in that way. I can just imagine her reaction when I tell her what I’ve done. Once I got home, I’d worry about getting back to get the Bronco. I didn’t know if Brian’s Bronco keys were at home, or with him. I was leaning towards them being at home.
I got to ride in the back of the security cart and we went into security. The woman handed me the phone and I call mom. She finally answers. I started singing “good afternoon to you, good afternoon to you” like I do the “good morning to you” every morning. She says “Dianne?” Yeah, mom, it’s me. I’m at Parkway Plaza, in security. “What are you doing there?” Uh, I got picked up for shoplifting. “NO! YOU DIDN’T!” (At this point security was watching me with amusement.) No, mom, I wasn’t picked up for anything like that, but can you believe I locked the keys in the Bronco? “You DIDN’T!” She started laughing. Well, yeah, I did and mom? I need you to come get me. “Me?” Yeah, mom, you. Brian’s working in Alpine today.
So, we talk about how to get here and she mentions she comes up by the LazyBoy Store. That’s fine, I tell her, that’s Johnson, the street I was using giving you directions. I’ll be waiting on the corner for you. I hang up the phone, thank security and off I go.
Now, I’m getting a little hungry, but I have absolutely no money. I have to pee, but that’s cool, I know where the restrooms are at Sears. I walk into the mall by the front entrance and food stores abound. Quizno’s, Rubios, Orange Julius, an ice cream store….I fleetingly wonder if any would accept my Sears card for payment. I make my way back to Sears, go downstairs to the restroom, then back up and out to the Bronco. I keep walking, making my way to the main road, then up to the light. I wait my turn, then go across the street and stake out my spot to wait for my mom. I keep watching for her little silver car. And it doesn’t show. And it doesn’t show. And it doesn’t show. I was there for at least an hour, I just know it’s been a really long time. And no mom. At one point, an ambulance went towards the way she’d be driving. Then, a while later, it came back and turned to go to one of the local hospitals. Could my mom have been in an accident? Standing on a corner, in the muggy heat of a monsoonal weather pattern, all sorts of wierd things go through one’s mind. I finally started thinking that my best bet would just to be to start walking home. It’s probably about five miles, I can do it. I just wish I didn’t have this quilt, it’s sure to get heavier the farther I walk. I wonder how blistered my feet will be. I wonder how long it will take. I turned to go to the light, taking one last look at the Sears parking lot, one last look at my little Bronco. And I see a woman in the parking lot, wearing the type of clothing my mom wears. I wave my hands. She waves back. IT’S MY MOM!
I made my way back over to the lot and find out that she had asked a neighbor to bring her down. I say hi to him and we laugh about the miscommunication. I’m just glad to be going home. I get in the back of his car and he turned up the air conditioning. I notice a roll of papertowels on the seat next to me, grab one and wipe off my face. On the way home, I find out they’ve been looking for me for quite a while. He couldn’t understand why I wasn’t waiting by the Bronco. Well, the parking lot is a big place, I wasn’t quite sure mom would know to look where I’d parked and besides, I told her I’d be waiting on the corner for her. They had gone inside and had me paged. Of course, I didn’t hear it on the other side of the street. He dropped us off at her house and she took me home. I looked at the keys on the rack, saw a set of Ford keys on the chain with the Mustang keys, but I wasn’t sure they were for the Bronco. I paged Brian with our special code for call right away. Five minutes later, I paged again, because sometimes the pages don’t go through. He called back shortly. Yes, the keys with the Mustang were for the Bronco. Great!
So, my mom took me back to Sears, I got in the Bronco and came home! Wasn’t that a fun adventure? The entire ordeal took about two and a half hours. But I did learn one thing. Always have some money on me, no matter what. And wear a watch.
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