The Postman Delivers

I had the pleasure of turning 44 on Friday. To celebrate I went to a northern Vermont ski area with my daughter and a friend and skied our little hearts out all weekend. Fun fun! Fun, that is, until I went to check out on Sunday and found my car keys missing.

That's when the real fun began. Do you know how many locksmiths are available on a Sunday afternoon near the Vermont/Canadian border? Let me give you a hint - starts with a "Z" - as in ZERO.

Complicating things is that my sexy new 2009 Subaru has a laser cut computer chip embedded key.

Being an optimist, I called every locksmith in a 75 mile radius. Joey the Locksmith offered to come out the next DAY and for a minimum of $225, he would pull out my ignition and cut a new key for me. "I know how to do this better than the dealership!" he bragged. Hmmm ...

Then I called the dealership, or rather, the Subaru hotline, who said they could tow it to the nearest dealership 40 miles away the following day, and then I could pray they could rekey the car the next day. I told this to Joey and he laughed. "Two days at best, trust me on this."

Fools to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am, stuck in a luxury condo at Jay. The AAA rep was kinder. She suggested "don't you have any friends who can drive up a spare key for you?"

I have to admit, I am lucky to have friends that I would even consider calling to ask for a favor like this - a 300 mile round trip on a Sunday night. Gal pal Cindy agreed immediately but would not arrive for several hours.

I took the down time to call the Postman to commiserate. "Why didn't you ask me to help?" I told him thanks anyway, I was all set. My plans were in place and I didn't want to make him make an 8 hour trek with a 7 am start time at work the following day. I hung up and the phone rang back stubbornly 10 minutes later. "Why don't I meet up with your friend half way so she isn't driving the whole distance."

And that's what we did, so that each person only had half of that 300 mile trek. I was on my way again at 9am today, and home by noon, in time for a root canal (yes, this was a red letter day for me).

"I owe you big time," I told The Postman. "Anything you want." He said a hug and kiss would be sufficient. "Gee, I tried that to get the locksmith to come out earlier and that didn't work." There was no laughter following my joke - I think I have to get him used to my humor. And no, I did not really offer the locksmith sexual favors. I only wish I had thought of it sooner.