albacete: Arnage?
Continental?
Or the Mulsanne?

If i had arrived there b4 d towing van, u would be singing a different tune by now.

i hope say dis time around, u go get a spare key.

hahaha...I've got Holy Ghost comprehensive insurance

albacete: if to say...

Bros, you wan yab me? lol. You na my person. Feel free to speak your mind.

[img]http://2.bp..com/-n9xAVCUo7xA/UpWeqP4HQjI/AAAAAAAADNo/_hUohPKg0es/s640/car-key.jpg[/img]

Last week Friday is one of those days I wish I could relive. Actually, what I really need is a time machine that would take me back to last week so I can fix a few things. Have you seen the movie Inception starring Leonardo DiCaprio? If you haven't, you are sleeping on a bicycle. I command you to go watch it! By force, by fire! I'm just kidding. You definitely should see the movie if you haven't. A quick warning - watching the movie is like taking a Calculus+Differential Equations class! If you are like me, you might have to watch it more than once to get a full gist of what's going on. Anyways, I'd love to go back to last week Friday to go plant some ideas in my head.

It was my work Friday (I'm off work every other Friday) and the day started very well. It was just the perfect Houston morning temperature for this time of the year. I barely woke up to make it into work right on time. I sped up my regular morning routine and got ready for work. I couldn't eat breakfast but my wife was gracious enough to have packed my lunch the previous night. I got my stuff, gave her a good bye kiss, grabbed my lunch box, jumped in car, and off I went.

I work in downtown Houston, a good forty-five minutes drive from the house, barring any traffic. Rather than make that long drive, I opted for the Park & Ride - as the name suggests, you park your car and get a bus ride to downtown.

The weather forecast had indicated that it was going to get chilly towards to later part of the day so I had my jacket. On getting to the park and ride, I had two choices with my keys, keep it in one of the pockets of my jacket or by the side of my lunch box. I chose the latter. When I'm at work I like to free myself of any heavy items on me. I remove my wrist watch, keys, and bracelet, and I put them all on my computer desk. To reduce the risk of forgetting the keys, I leave it by my lunch box since it's not on me and I don't have to take it out.

Work went well, a very quiet Friday as usual. I was able to get a lot done. By noon I was so ready to get the weekend started. By 4pm, the work day was officially over, I grabbed all my items, put on my jacket and headed for the bus-stop.

As I stepped out of the office building, I was hit with some extremely chilled wind. It was unusually cold (at least for Houston weather) that evening. I put on my hoody, buttoned up my jacket and hung my lunch box around my shoulder. I didn't have winter gloves so I had to put my hands in the pockets of my jacket to keep warm as I hurried across the street to catch the bus home.

The ride home was nice. The bus was warm and I had time to check on my Twitter timeline, see how many visitors we've had on InfoNubia, and respond to some comments. The driver must have been very cold too as he slightly hit the curbs on two occasions when he made turns. The ladies seated behind me laughed away as the amateur driver struggled with a sharp turn.

Eventually we made it back to the park and ride around 5:20pm and as I walked towards the car, I reached for the side of the lunch box. Lo and behold....the keys to my intensely beautiful Bentley (in my mind...lol) was gone! I dashed back into the bus, did a quick check around my seat but I didn't find my keys. By this time, it had started to rain and the temperature further dropped.

In the split of a second, I replayed my day, trying to make sense of how I could have misplaced the keys. I knew I needed to get back to downtown. I thought about calling my wife who was back home by then. She could come get me with her car. There was only one problem - she misplaced her phone the day before!

Normally, the overly meticulous Segun would have made a big deal about the missing phone. "How could you loose your phone? You know that's the only way I can reach you while I'm at work. What if there's an emergency and our daughter's school needs to reach you? What if....what if..." The list goes on. This time, I chose to RESPOND not REACT. I was unusually calm about the phone loss, hoping that it would be found when she goes back to the school library. Unfortunately, no one had found it or turned it in.

So there I was at the park and ride, freezing up inside. Eventually, I called a friend who wasn't too far away. He came to pick me up and we headed back downtown to find the keys. Needless to say, I didn't find them. I was disappointed as we headed back home.

Right there, Francesca Battistelli's song "This is the stuff" just kept playing in my head. It was the perfect song to describe how I felt. In fact, its playing as I type this. It was like she wrote the song for my wife and me. "I lost my keys in the great unknown and call me please 'cause I can't find my phone..."

I had to call a tow truck to tow my car home and I'll be towing it to the dealership today to have a new key programmed for it.

I wrote this post to share a part of what transpired over the weekend and to say I'm really proud of how I handled the situation. I could have made a big deal about it, fuss and do all sorts but that wouldn't find the key. Rather, it would build up toxins in my body that could eventually make me fall sick. I chose to RESPOND and not REACT. It's Thanksgiving week and no situation is going to steal my joy! AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FO' THAT!!

That song by Francesca really kept me grounded. Just knowing that in the middle of all these unpleasant situations, I can still count my blessings and know that God's got us. Big deal...I lost my car keys. How about someone who doesn't own a car? How about folks that own cars but can't drive them because of an illness? Or folks who can't afford to pay their phone bills and the phone is as good as missing.

Bottom line is, because I RESPONDED to the situation, I was able to think straight, come up with a plan to replace the missing keys, and continue with life like nothing happened. Of course, it's costing some $$$ to get back on track but that's okay. Money can always be recovered but it fails in comparison to joy and peace of mind.

Dear reader, I'd like to encourage you to be thankful in whatever situation life throws at you. The face that you haven't lost it all is enough reason to be thankful. Choose to respond to situations rather than react. By responding, you think clearly, make better decisions, and maintain your homeostasis (a relative state of internal stability).

I've got so much to be thankful for - family, friends, my InfoNubia family, work, health, and life in general.

Meanwhile, my keys are still stuck in limbo. I've called the Metro bus lost and found office, talked to my office building security and all the nine yards, no one has found or returned the keys. All you kidnappers hoping to kidnap my beautiful Bentley...what are you still waiting for Oya, somersault by fire!

I leave you with the video of "This is the Stuff" by Francesca Battistelli as I look forward to reading your comments. It's okay to laugh at me...feel free to indulge in laughter, its a good medicine for the soul.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe4SckesWLE

http://www.infonubia.com/2013/11/so-i-lost-my-car-keys.html