Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Where to start...

I don't even know where to start... My afternoon/ evening did NOT turn out the way I was expecting them to go... Thankfully it is over though... And thankfully I have a husband, brother, and parents who are willing to take on the world to make sure that I am okay :)

I thought I would be able to make it home with the amount of gas that I had in my tank. The further I drove, the more I realized that I wouldn't make it all the way home. The scooter only holds 1 gallon, so when you are on "E" it isn't like a car where you still have a gallon left and you can make it somewhere --- when you are on Empty you are OUT of gas. I stopped to get some gas about half way between work and home (about 4 or 5 miles from the house). I pump the gas, get ready to leave, and BAM.

I shut up compartment under the seat (where my gas goes) and realized "UH OH MY KEYS ARE IN THERE". The first thoughts through my head are panic... I am thinking that I will be stuck at the gas station with no way to tell anyone. I can't take a cab because my wallet is where I locked my keys. I can't call anyone because my phone is where I locked my keys. I run inside the gas station and ask if I can use the phone. She tells me there is a pay phone outside. I run to the pay phone. I remember (from BACK IN THE DAY) that you can 'call collect' and have the person that you are calling accept the charges (seeing as I didn't have any money to actually make a call, IT WAS LOCKED IN THE SCOOTER). Mind you - I know THREE phone numbers. 9-1-1, my husband, and my parents (back in Michigan). I figure now is not the time to call 9-1-1, so I try calling Ryan collect. I get a message like 'the charges were denied' or 'the caller did not answer' or 'the line was busy' (I don't remember which message I got when). I tried calling my parents, thinking that maybe Ryan didn't pick up because he thought it was a telemarketer or something, but if I call my parents, they can call him and then he can come get me. Well, I try for a good 15 or 20 MINUTES trying Ryan or my parents.

Finally I realize that I can walk home, but I better leave NOW or else it will be dark before I get back. I try calling both numbers again, getting one of the multiple 'error' messages, and decide I better start walking. On the walk/run home I was thinking that my parents probably were out, and of course the answering machine can't accept charges, and that Ryan probably was busy at work or thought they were junk calls and didn't notice them. I COULDN'T HAVE BEEN FURTHER FROM WHAT ACTUALLY WAS GOING ON (but more on that in a minute).

I remembered that Ryan had a meeting with our tax guy tonight at 7:30. I was worried that if he had to work late that he might just go straight to meet him and wouldn't come home first. After the tax meeting he was planning on going to hang out at some friends' house. I was slightly worried that he might try to call me, think I had my phone on silent or something, leave a message and then just go straight the those things and I would be stuck on our doorstep till who knows when. Then I realized that he had to come home first because the tax documents were there. This made me a little more calm, but still at this point I am running and walking up the LARGE hills around us, trying to get home before the sun goes down.

Oh yeah, not to mention that today it was 80 degrees out - which is NICE scooter weather, but not so nice when you are freaking out, with your body high on adrenaline and physically running around town.

So, I am about 3 minutes from home (I just had to walk up our BIG hill to our condo) when I hear a honk. It is Ryan. He is flailing his arms, trying to signal, like a 'What the heck is going on' type sign. He has to wait for the light to turn green so he can come through the intersection (where I was on the other side). I get in the car and hear HIS side of the story.

Apparently when I was calling 1-800-CALL-ATT and trying to get Ryan or my parents, it wasn't like the old school way, when they just say 'Yes' to accepting the charges. They actually had to put their credit card numbers into the phone. They both said that they tried it and that they were getting 'rejected'. My mom went so far as to call the credit card company to make sure that it wasn't a scam (someone trying to steal her credit card number or anything). So at this point, all anyone knows is that "Carlee" is trying to call collect, but not where I am, what happened, etc. Ryan thought that maybe the scooter broke, or I got into an accident, or someone had kidnapped me. He leaves work, drives to my work, then drives to our place looking for me - the whole time trying to figure out with my mom what is going on. I had taken a 'short' cut (what Ryan considers a SAFE way), which is why he didn't see me on the way back to the house. I was able to call my mom and let her know what happened.

Ryan and I then drove the car over to the gas station where the scooter was. On the way Ryan was freaked out that it would be towed because there isn't "parking" at the gas stations, but thankfully it was still there and Ryan has a second key that we were able to use to open the seat and get my keys out of. Then it was off time to drive the scooter back to the house.

Maybe this is something we will laugh at in a few days, but man, today it was not funny - mostly scary. I mean at first I was nervous because I wasn't sure what to do. Then I felt slightly mad that no one was answering my collect calls (again, I thought they were just ignoring them) - because what if I was in jail or the hospital. Then I felt empowered because I decided to walk home and try to figure it out myself. Then when I heard about how freaked out everyone was I got sad because I didn't mean to get everyone so worked up. And now I think I am in a thankful mood. Thankful that my husband was willing to try and track me down. Thankful that my brother tried to keep Ryan calm by telling him that I used to beat him up when we were younger, so if someone would have tried to kidnap me I would have beat them up. Thankful for my parents to love and care about me and try to do whatever they could from 1200+ miles across the country. Thankful that God kept me safe through the whole ordeal. And thankful that one day we might be able to sit and laugh about it all :)

And after all the excitement I think it is time for bed. I am pretty much DRAINED! I don't know if it was the hot weather and the running/ walking the 4 or 5 miles back to the house or he emotional toll from the whole ordeal, but all I know is I AM BEAT!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

wow......what a day.....much worse on you than me! just another adventure as a mommy.....i'm already laughing about it (inside).
xoxoxoxox