RIP PAL's Turbo Club-A

So here it is: The Long Awaited Update of my Evening....or awaited since last night at least.

So I decided to go visit some friends around W181st street, but since it was already 6:00 p.m., I thought it best to drive. I can get there via car (without traffic) in 20 minutes, and with traffic only takes about 45. MUCH less than riding the E to the A all the way up to 181.

Well, I have made this journey more than a few times since living in NYC, and I always seem to have some mishap. Most of the time, I end up getting in the ezpass lane instead of the 'cash only' on the Whitestone bridge. I always try my hardest to get into the right one, but it can be tricky. The signs are misplaced, and the orange cones do not make anything easier. And, of course, there was that one time when I didn't even have money FOR the toll. Yeah, that was bad.

So, needless to say, I was thoroughly excited when I made it from my apartment to 181 in 30 minutes last night without ANY mishaps and with minimal traffic. I didn't even have a hard time finding a place to park, and I ended up getting a spot where I didn't have to pay. AMAZING.

So when I arrived and found my spot, I immediately called Brandon to ask him if it was a 'safe' place to park my father's car. I wanted to be RESPONSIBLE. He assured me that where I was was pretty safe. So, I got out and locked the door. Then, I decided to take a little EXTRA precaution and use the club that Pal (pastor albert) gave me. I have only used this thing like twice since I received it 2 months ago (i always forget), but like I said, I wanted to be responsible. So, I got back in the car and put the club on, securing it in place. Then I got out and locked the doors.

.....AS SOON AS I HEARD THE AUTOMATIC LOCK SOUND, I KNEW WHAT I HAD DONE!!!!! No, I hadn't LOCKED my keys in the car, but I HAD used my club when, the club key was on my OTHER set of keys. See, last night, I ended up using my spare set of keys to drive over because it was beside the door and my normal set was in my purse in my bedroom. I didn't want to wake Jirem by going back in there, so I just used the spare!!!!

WHAT TO DO?????? I mean, it's a club, you can't just break it off.

I went inside and explained to Cedric and Brandon what I had done. After they laughed at me a lot and Brandon shook his head in pity, I think, we went back out to my car for the first round of attempts to be super heroes who break clubs. I tried using chop sticks, tweasers, a knife, an assortment of tools, keys, bobby pins, you name it. The key whole was not a normal key whole- it was rounded with tumblers inside. I called around and asked some people what to do but ended up being faced with the decision to pay a locksmith or to travel 1.5 back to Queens, get my key, and then come another 1.5 (by train) back up to get my car. By that time, I would need to just get in my car and drive home.

Well, we called a locksmith- He came out. He was able to get in. I was able to talk him down from $270 to $100. I felt victorious, but afterwards realized that I still spent $100.

So....moral of the story....locksmiths overcharge. Well, that's probably not the real moral, but oh well. My dad yelled at me a lot. Hey, it was an accident. I mean, it's not like I did it on purpose! And it wasn't his money. It was mine. I made the decision to spend it that way. He was just angry that I was 'irresponsible,' but honestly, people do make mistakes...right?

I did, however, also lock myself out of my apartment last week. I had to break in through the fire escape by using a dog crate and two trash cans and all the God-given strength and flexibility I have. Maybe I'm not the best person with whom to trust your keys.

BYE!