when i look to the star

OK, funny story to follow. something funny, hilarious, even, happened to ME! yes, ME! nothing funny, or at least funny-in-a-blog-worthy-way ever happens to me, so i am thrilled to be able to share the following:

i don't consider myself a scattered person. in fact, given my obsessive & compulsive tendencies, i very rarely get myself into situations for which i am unprepared. or, well, stuck.

last friday night, as i was getting ready to leave work, i pulled my door shut, and heard that familiar 'click' of the lock. and my next thought was that my car keys were sitting on my desk, inside my locked office. rrrggghh. i had grabbed my coat, but not my keys. my next thought was that my keys to the office were in my car.

and of course, my car was locked!! i can't tell you how frustrated i was! all of the following things were running through my mind:

1) it's friday night, and i want to go hoooome
2) i just had my office re-keyed, and there are only 2 keys. my assistant, with the other key, had already gone home (he lives about 15 miles away)
3) when i got back from the store with some copy paper earlier in the afternoon, i parked under the drive through by the front door
4) i thought i was only going to stay at work for a few more moments, so i left my purse in the car (with my office keys in it)
5) there were some strange looking guys checking in to the hotel when i parked, so i locked my car (with my purse inside of it)
6) i misplaced the second key to my car this summer, and haven't gotten around to replacing it yet
7) it's friday night, and i want to go home!

so, i called my assistant, who grumbled a little and said he would head over.

but then, i remembered, it's OK! because i have OnStar!! i'll just call OnStar! no matter that my membership card is locked in my car. surely they can help me out.

a very nice customer service employee named patricia walked me through about 8 steps to find my membership. phone number? nope. it didn't match my records. oh, wait, what was my phone number at my old house where i lived when i actually got this membership? nope, doesn't match my records.

no worries, they can use the last eight numbers from my VIN. i jotted down the jumble of letters and numbers and rattled them off to her. no, sorry, that doesn't match our records.

can you just search by my name? (i KNOW! what was i thinking?) and amazingly enough, patricia was able to find my membership. i happily confirmed that my car is a white trailblazer! yes, it's outside in an open area! yes, i will patiently wait for up to minute while you remotely unlock my door! she asked for a phone number to call me back in the event we got disconnected. i gave her the number at the hotel, which, as it turns out, is the phone number i used on my membership. who knew?!?

after about 30 seconds, she came back with the sad news that the unlock came back as failed. was i sure the car was not in a garage?

i'm sure! oh, but wait, i'm parked partially under the drive through at the front door of the hotel. so they attempted it again. another fail.

i knew by now that OnStar would not be able to help me out this time. but they were really, really nice about it. patricia even chuckled when i commented that next time i planned to lock my keys in the car, i would make sure i was parked in an open area. ha HA!

by this point, my assistant would be pulling up within minutes. i thought maybe i should give him a little tip for his trouble, and there just happened to be some money in my jacket. and, as i reached into the pocket...

yup, my car keys.

i called him immediately and told him OnStar had come to my rescue (because there's no harm in a teensie white lie, is there??