Fool...Foolish Fool

I try, I really do, to be a normal person. A person who does not do the stupid things that always seem to find me. I am not sure how I am drawn to making these foolish mistakes, but alas, where I go, random misunderstandings seem to always follow. I think I am rolling along, blending in with the crowd, then I just drop the ball and take on the roll of complete fool. There was that time I was on vacation with my friends family, and as many times as I said I would not do anything dumb, I allowed myself to try to make pizza rolls, place them on a plastic serving tray rather than a pan (IT LOOKED LIKE A COOKIE SHEET), catch it on fire in the oven, have then entire condo fill with toxic fumes, alarms sound...entire condo COMPLEX evacuated, and (of course) have the fire department show up to give the all clear so everyone can go back to their vacation...There was that time I let (asked) my little sister to fold me up in the hide-a-bed sofa. That is a long story I have promised to eventually write up in full on the blog, but lets just say the fire department was involved again. There are many many examples...want to hear the newest addition? I knew you did!

The Buick died. I KNOW! We are down to one car and it is now not working. How completely sad is this? I am still on the hunt for the Xterra, but looks like we need to light a fire under that little search. Anyway, this post is not really about the Buick. I have accepted our car troubles and hope that Nick can get it running this weekend. The think is, I have to work this weekend. Clearly I cannot drive myself to work in the Buick(and yes I could bike it, but it is cold outside!), so I asked the GM if I could use a company car for the weekend. She said of course I could (sometimes I don't appreciate my job like I should. They are just so easy sometimes.) and gave me the keys to the Ford Ranger which she said was parked in the back.

Flash forward a couple of hours. I am the last person in the lab and it is getting dark. I decide to move the truck around to the front door. I run out, scan the fleet of white trucks with our logo on them, see the Ford and jump in. (wait for it...here is where I let my guard down for just a second and become the fool) The keys were in the ignition which I think is strange. BUT, we have several sets of keys for all of our trucks, so I just drop my key in my purse and pull on out of the spot. The truck sounds...funny. Kind of like it is struggling to go. I pull around to the side of the building (about 50 yards from the trucks parking spot) and I decided something is most definitely wrong. I notice the truck has 489,000 miles. I knew the ranger was about to flip over to 100,000. I am totally in the wrong truck.

No big deal, right? Just put it back and get in the Ford RANGER, and not the Ford F150. Here is the thing. The F150 was back there (with keys and what not) because it broke down a month ago and we realized the transmission was totally shot. Yeah. So we just hadn't had time to decide what to do with it. We had it towed to that spot. I don't panic, I just back up a bit to turn around(red flags!! NEVER take a car that is driving with no transmission out of gear!!)...then go to put it back in drive...but I get nothing. Back to reverse...nothing. Here is the problem. I am in the most terrible position imaginable. I am blocking in ALL the cars. Not just my companies, but like four different companies cars. There is no way I can just leave it. Drive, reverse, drive reverse. NOTHING HAPPENS.

So, as it turns from dusk to night, I decide the only thing I can do is get out...and push. Like I said, it was only about 50 yards, and I really didn't want to call anyone and tell them I was such a fool. I just wanted to deal with it myself. So I did. I pushed the huge truck back to it's spot. I had to get behind it, and push with all my freaking might to get it going(Really. All. My. Might), then RUN up and push by the driver side door so I had control of the wheel....oh the heart ache every time the stupid thing stopped rolling and I had to start again...After thirty minutes of dealing with my own mistake, I was back to the original spot, but not IN the spot.

I tried so hard to cut the wheel enough to pull it gracefully in, but it was just not possible. The truck might have hit the fence, but I would rather not worry about that...finally I gave up. My entire body ached (and aches more this morning). My arms, my legs, my back! So, now the truck is all kittywompus, but it is out of the way. My dream would have been to put it back in it's home and hope nobody would notice, but I am telling you they are going to notice on Monday. Then I have to tell them I am a fool, and beg them to work out the details...but I am not pushing anymore. I am all pushed out. At least I didn't have to call the fire department!