One wild goose chase after another. That would describe my non-work life today, I think.

During the noon hour, a few short minutes before I was going to leave for my appointment, I got a call from the doctor's office. Sick again. The appointment will have to be rescheduled again. Ugggh.

I went outside and took a jog in an attempt to run off my frustration. It was quite a beautiful, sunny day, actually.

Took a trip to the grocery store, got a sandwich from the deli, and returned to work. I still had something to look forward to for the evening.

...

After work, knew exactly which direction to take. It was all planned. First, to the Video Station to drop off Saturday night's movie (which I still haven't gotten around to entering into the log). Then, to the hallowed ground of Pearl Street.

I found a parking space without much trouble, noted that the parking meter had no time allocated, and the sign said enforcement was in effect until 6:00pm. It was still 17:49. I thought the chances of getting a ticket would be low, but I decided it would be good to throw in a dime, just in case.

Opened the passenger side door, put my keys on the seat while I seached for a dime. Perfect. I found one, sprang back out of the car, closed the door, and put the dime in the meter. It only gave me 8 pathetic minutes, but I decided that would be enough. And I was off down the sidewalk.

A few strides, and I noted a conspicuous lack of weight in my left pocket. Reached my hand in. Nothing there. Tried the other pocket. Not there either. Went back to Tobias's window, and looked in. There they were, on the seat. DOH!

Momentary panic mode set in. I tried every door, just in case. But deep down, I already knew. Shit.

I decided that attempting to break in would probably be futile, and I didn't want to waste my time on such frustrations. So I walked on to Pearl Street, and considered my options. I had a little over an hour until meditation class would begin.

I had a spare key at home, and the RTD station was just a block away. I could get a bus home, fetch my key, and catch the next bus back to Boulder. If I were to take this option immediately, it would likely make me late for services -- or force me to miss them altogether -- depending on the bus schedule. Not desirable.

I could go ahead and stroll up and down Pearl Street for an hour, grab a bite to eat, and go to meditation as originally planned, and worry about the keys later. Maybe take one of the late night buses back and forth. Not a comforting option. I doubted how much I would really be able to enjoy any of my activities knowing that I would be locked out of Tobias.

Option 3: Attempt to call home, and if anyone was present, ask them to bring my key to me. Problem with this one was that I didn't remember exactly which drawer I had left the spare key in, and the idea of other family members rummaging through all my drawers did not have great appeal. I also didn't want questions about what I was doing there in the evening. To be avoided if possible.

I decided to head to the bus station first. I still knew the previous bus schedules for this time of day by heart, but it would be good to check whether they had changed. A schedule revealed that indeed they had. MUCH more frequent runs. Just as I got there, one was getting ready to leave.

I calculated that given the new and improved schedule, I would be able to take the bus home, sprint home, retrieve my key, sprint back to the bus stop, and take the one coming back to Boulder, and arrive at the station at 18:55. Maybe. If I was lucky, and everything was timed just perfectly.

So I dug out a doller, got coins from the change machine, hopped aboard, and had a few moments of nostalgia as the bus started its very familiar route.

It seemed to take forever to get there, but in fact, it arrived at the Louisville stop early, leaving me a window of 10 minutes, instead of the much more meager 7 I had estimated from the original schedule. Almost realistic.

I ran home, found myself thoroughly out of breath, stopped at the door, took in some oxygen, and...

Doh!

Locked.

Went around, tried the back and the garage. Also locked.

Only my dad's old car was present outside. Since the house was dark, I presumed he must have gone somewhere with either mom or bouncing. Doh!

Suck, suck, suck!

I contemplated any other possible way of getting into the house. Short of doing major damage, it seemed rather hopeless.

I stewed around for a few minutes, hoping somebody would show up. Decided that this was pointless, and proceeded to walk to Safeway.

At the store, I procured a nice little basket of spicey buffalo wings, and a bottle of root beer. Deciding that the meditation session and class was now a lost cause, I spend the last $5 of cash in my wallet, which I had planned to donate to the Shambhala Center, on food.

I sat down on the bench outside the store and ate up.

My stomach happily full, I returned home, to find bouncing and dad back. I retrieved my key, checked my bus schedule, ran to the stop, and was back in Boulder at 20:00 (8pm).

On the way back to Tobias, I spotted Illegal Pete, and thought that would be good to eat were it not for the recently consumed buffalo wings.

Reached Tobias, put the spare key in, and opened the door with ease. As I started up, I found the generic music on the radio strangely comforting. Maybe not so much the music itself, but the fact that I was back in my car, and the radio was playing like it should be.

As I trekked up South Boulder Road for the final time of the day, Tori Amos's Crucify came on. Needless to say, I cranked it. :)

And now, here I sit, typing brief phrases in irc every few minutes. The compass threatens to hypnotize me.

Duuuuuuh. What a botch. Better luck next week. But at least I'm home, typing at Argo, and have the keys to Tobias again.

I think I'll devote my full attention to irc now.

EOR