For Want Of A Car

It started Sunday with the disappearance of half my keys…the house key being one of them. The house key isn’t all that important to me right now because The Wife is always home before I get there. She usually lets me in.

Yeah, I said always. By always I mean always, except for when she’s not.

The Wife called me today to let me know she’s heading into a late meeting so I’ll need to pick up The Boys. Not a problem, that routine is well practiced. Depart work early enough to ride home, switch to The Car, and do the pick up loop.

Part way home I realize I don’t have a house key. Fine, I’ll pick them up and we’ll wait in the car, out of the cold, wind and rain until she arrives. Ah, the car…by car I mean The Car, the one safely locked inside the garage. The garage being included in the list of things I currently lack a key for.

Hear that? That’s the sound of the MinusCar Soundtrack switching from symphony to jazz.

Initially I changed course to theft The Wife’s car. That ended up being a time waster (more bike miles!) because 1. bike transport becomes more difficult without a key to unlock the bike transport mechanism, 2. thefting that car requires a return trip to retrieve The Wife…not congruent with The MinusCar Project.

Bike to daycare, leave bike behind, ride cab with The Boy 4 to school, linger at school as long as possible by playing Lego’s with The Boy 8 and watching The Boy 4 beat a first grader three times at Connect 4 (he had help; first grader was sporting but not pleased), shorten the walk home by counting concrete squares, lots of concrete squares, just as The Boy 4 settles in for a ride on the shoulders The Wife appears for the save.

Funny thing about MinusCar…community returns.

I have a full set of keys again.