you can fix anything with duck tape

I am OCD about some things.  For me to admit that is a big confession.  But the reason I am OCD about some things is because if I wasn't, I'd be doomed.  I was reminded of this not long ago.

Driving to work one morning recently, I was a bit distracted.  I had several things on my mind, and was trying to make a mental list of all the things I needed to do.  I had pretty well worked the list out in my head, and decided to run by the pharmacy on my way to work.  Actually, it was two pharmacies.  Stevie Wonder and I use different pharmacies, for the same reason we use different banks.  But that is another story.

While I was picking up my prescription, I decided to pick up some makeup I needed, rather than try to make another trip to buy makeup.  That was my first mistake.  When I start looking at makeup, or anything that causes me to use the unorganized side of my brain, it means there is a conflict.  In my brain.  Because you can't daydream and organize at the same time.  Not with my brain anyway.

My mind started to drift as I looked at the new products.  I grabbed my standard mascara, and picked up some nifty eyebrow pencils, and then I saw the lipsticks, and started trying to decide what color to get.

That was the beginning of the end.  I was on limited time, so I was feeling the pressure to make a decision.  I was trying to add up what the cost of all this beauty paraphernalia was going to cost me, and then head back to pick up the prescription.  My attention span was starting to drift.  I got my prescription, headed to the car, and then across the street to Stevie's pharmacy to get his prescriptions.  I drove through the drive through at that pharmacy, then headed to work, still making good time.

I got to work, dropped my keys in my purse (my second mistake), cracked my window just a little to keep the heat from building up, then got out of the car to go around and pick up my purse and bag of makeup goodies and carry them in.  I pushed the lock down and slammed the door shut.

Have you ever done something, made a mistake, and felt like you were standing back and watching someone else do some dumb ass thing in slow motion? 

That is how I felt as I watched the door swing shut.  Just as the door went "click", I realized that I had locked everything in the car.  I had changed my routine and made that last dumb  move and shut the door, without making sure I had my keys in my hand.

Now I had a problem.  Stevie Wonder was out of pocket, so I couldn't call him for help.  I walked into my office, and started trying to arrange to get someone to break into my car.  Then my mum surfaced in me.  She raised me to be independent, and that attitude, along with being married since the Stone Age to Stevie Wonder the Tool Wizard, made me decide I could deal with this myself.

I thought about how to approach this.  This was the planning stage.  Like making a blueprint in my head.  Once I figured that out I assembled my tools:
1. a flexible steel yardstick
2. a paper clip
3. duct tape

Now if you live in the south, you know most of us call it duck tape.  That is just the way we roll.  This tape is so versatile that it should be a staple in all emergency kits and households.  I assembled my tools and taped a paper clip to the end with several pieces of duct tape.  I proceeded to the car, slid the yardstick down inside the window and flipped the lock open on the third try.

Three things saved me that day:
1. duct tape
2. determination
3. leaving my window cracked that crucial inch

I never crack my window, but I did that day.  For the same reason I dropped my keys in my purse.  I was thinking with the left side of my brain.

Sometimes being unorganized works out for the better.

  
...life is good. ~cath   
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