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August 04, 2005
Locked Out
So, I came up with an impossibly brilliant plan for my day today (those who know me may now stop laughing). We had a staff outing to the White Sox/Blue Jays game this afternoon, so I decided that I would run home. But here are the genius touches I added: I wore my bathing suit (for a post-run dip in the lake) and running shorts to work under my skirt and shirt so as to avoid having to waste time changing as we tried to get out of the office and to the game (getting out of the office and on our way anywhere always seems to be a monumental endeavor for us); I also drove my car to school to spare my (tired) legs a couple of miles of walking thinking I could do a short double around 9 tonight and swing by to retrieve it.
As it turned out, despite my careful wardrobe planning, I was the one who held up our departure. I was having some formatting issues with a document that needed to be mailed today. With my usual impeccable timing, I chose the moment when everyone was giving me sh!t for the delay I had caused to step out of my skirt so I could squirrel it away in my desk drawer. There was sudden silence, into which I interjected, "What? I'm wearing shorts." My boss responded that he had initially thought that perhaps mooning them all was my way of apologizing.
Despite our late departure we managed to arrive in time for first pitch. The game was was a close one, but way too long for the steamy conditions. I kept feeling that no matter how much water I drank it wasn't enough. By 4:30 or so when Hermanson finally struck Hinske out to end the game (5-4 Sox the final), the 12-miler I had planned wasn't sounding too appealing. But once I got moving I started feeling better -- and cooler, with the air circulating around me. There are a couple stretches of the lake path that are just relentless: no way to get out of the sun. So, I tried to surge through those portions to get to the shadier parts. I felt tired, especially in the last couple of miles, but not too terrible; and I felt instantly better once I slipped into the lake and actually cooled off for the first time in hours.
After floating around for a while, I started to get a little cold and decided it was time to head home. As I swam back toward shore it suddenly occurred to me that I hadn't executed my brilliant plan as perfectly as one might have hoped: my apartment keys were locked in my car... at school. I had two options: either run back to school and get the car right then or take my sodden self to the building conceirge and plead lock-out. I decided that the latter was the more appealing option (if you've been reading my blog for long you know that I just don't have enough dignity left to make its preservation worthwhile).
This was my second completely avoidable lock debacle in as many days. At the gym, they issue day locks which come with metal tags attached with the combination for the lock. Yesterday, I checked out a lock so I could store my stuff. When I went to shower I decided that I wouldn't re-lock my locker because it seems that every time I do that I end up having problems getting the lock unlocked again, so I end up standing there in my towel dripping and cursing. But instead of doing the smart thing and re-locking the lock with the combination tag on it and leaving it on the bench, I unthinkingly left the open lock and the tag lying there. By the time I got back from the shower the tag was nowhere to be found. After searching all over for it, I became convinced that there was some crazy psychology student running around collecting neglected combination tags to see if people confessed to losing them. So, assuming that most people probably wouldn't confess (would just sneak the lock back into the bucket), I decided that I would throw off her data by confessing. I mean, really, where could the thing have gone? It takes real talent to lose such an object in just 5 mins. in a very limited space. I suspect that's what the guy working the check-out desk was thinking as I explained to him how I had lost it.
Posted by alweiss at August 4, 2005 08:48 PM