Stevie, I lost my keys...

[dalyduo]

Edit: this was split off from a prior discussion on Seat Inserts, where at the end John Greist tells how Revere locked his car keys in the car at Road America...

First a friendly suggestion and then a crushing word count lost key story.

For the past 6 years I've had AAA Plus service for my road cars. The great benefit of Plus is free road service anywhere in the states if you run out of gas or lock your keys in the car and 100 miles of free towing service as well. I just had occasion to have a car flat bedded 73 of those 100 miles with very prompt service at no charge. A couple of other times I've needed them for shorter towing distances but still well beyond the regular few miles included with standard AAA service. It has been a very cost effective lifesaver.

At VIR this past March found myself more scatter brained than usual when I went to the trunk of my rental for a tear off, slammed it closed, reached into my pocket and realized I must have put the keys down in the trunk and locked them in. Too shorted out to remember I had AAA Plus I started looking around for the person most likely to know how to break into a rental car and spied our favorite Rancho Relaxo racing star Steve DeBrecht running pit lane on this lightly attended lapping day. Stevie De was in and out of the parts trailer in less than 60 seconds with a wire coat hanger and other high percentage implements of intrusion in a quick effort to solve my problem. With the car near pit lane Stevie, Dick Lippert, Don Van and a few other suspects generously spent the better part of half an hour trying to reach that last millimeter of hitting the door lock release button. All this while Stevie is maintaining unfailing professional focus as he continues to run pit lane on his radio with one eye down the empty pit lane and the other eye fishing around with a wire that turned out to be not quite stout enough to get the job done.

It was one of those moments when you get to see how lucky you are to have friends who instantly pull together to solve your problem as it would have been much easier for any or all of them to toss me the coat hanger and say "Have at it kid..." but they didn't and I felt honored to receive their support.

Finally the VIR security guy rolled up and announced he might have something that could help us. "For legal reasons I can't use these on your car but you sure can." He then presented us with a large case filled with shims and wires specifically made to break into cars. The proper tool for the proper job certainly applied in the is case as Stevie plucked the perfect wire from the box and was about 30 seconds from unlocking the door when I thrust my hand into my right hand pocket and felt the keys to the car sitting there... Ohhhh boy... I could instantly feel warm sticky egg rolling down my face as I'd checked the left hand pocket where I usually put my keys and then thought I'd also checked the right hand pocket thoroughly but clearly had not checked it thoroughly enough. I was moved by the support of Stevie and Dick but they were both holding sharp objects in their hands and I lost the courage to reveal the truth of what happened and profusely thanked them while leaving out the part about the keys being in my pocket the whole time.

That would normally be the end of this embarrassing story but it actually got better. The next day I needed something from the trunk and said to myself... "Now make sure you don't put those keys down and make an even bigger ass of yourself." This turned out to be the equivalent of looking where you don't want to crash. I picked up my bag and the last thing I saw, as the lid slammed shut, were those keys waving goodbye from the floor of the trunk. Did I mention I was feeling shorted out? Now, with the VIR security vehicle nowhere in site and way too mortified to approach Stevie De again I had a very long moment of self flagellation before my dim bulb glowed just bright enough to remember the AAA plus card sitting in my wallet. Called 'em up and they called back in ten minutes saying they'd have someone there in two hours. The guy arrived on time from sixty miles away, pulled out his own set of auto burglar tools and had the car open in 30 seconds. As heartfelt as the day before I thanked him for righting my wrong and he said, "Don't worry about it... Had one woman lock her keys in her car three times in one day..." Hmm... Decided not to enter that competition by explaining my lunacy from the day before but did take Stevie De aside when he wasn't holding a sharp object and revealed my indiscretion. Realized about half way through the explanation that I was again wasting his time with a "My Name is Earl" like confession that might have been better left unsaid. However when you exceed your wildest dreams of mindlessness yet discover the generosity and kindness of friends and strangers in the process... It's worth the embarrassment of sending it out there to also reveal how lucky you are.

The original point of this story was to tell John to tell Revere that if he gets AAA Plus service mom will never have to drive to Fon du Lac again.

It took a while but I feel much better now.

Originally Posted by John Greist

Revere locked his in his road car, had to drive one race with foam and was bruised and worn out at race's end. Even more bruised by his mom when she had to drive to Fon du Lac to bring his back up car keys

[cdh]

very, very funny Pat

[Slowhands]

OK Pat, you forced my hand.....(hee hee)

PHOTO CAPTION CONTEST!!!!!!

[John Greist]

Originally Posted by dalyduo

The original point of this story was to tell John to tell Revere that if he gets AAA Plus service mom will never have to drive to Fon du Lac again.

It took a while but I feel much better now.

Very very funny Pat

Mindlessness, mindfulness and, filling the gap, attention deficit disorder. Revere rejects that explanation and is clear I don't suffer ADD, diagnosing ASD (attention surplus disorder) instead.

AAA is appealing, as transporting a BMW with keys locked inside is the only way, SBRs best having failed to crack the M3 nut. Our house is 106 miles from RA, but if deposited that close to home, Revere could have walked the remainder and back with the key. Georgia took pitty on Revere because I was stuck at RA too.

[LimeRockRacer]

That is too damn funny Pat. I felt your pain.
As far as the picture...Am I mistaken but is that Pat in the background facing the opposite direction with his hands in his pockets????

Oh, perhaps it was the "other" Daly!

[cdh]

Originally Posted by LimeRockRacer

That is too damn funny Pat. I felt your pain.
As far as the picture...Am I mistaken but is that Pat in the background facing the opposite direction with his hands in his pockets????

Oh, perhaps it was the "other" Daly!

perhaps the photo mod should have looked like this

[Slowhands]

Originally Posted by LimeRockRacer

As far as the picture...Am I mistaken but is that Pat in the background facing the opposite direction with his hands in his pockets????

As Doug knows well, it pays to be lurking around the paddock with a camera when you're not in a car....

Yes, that's The Man himself leaving the scene-- I wonder if it was at this point he had finally checked that "other" pocket?

Pat, thanks for sharing a very funny story with us. Now that's a sign of a supremely secure individual! And I apologize for my inability to keep the wraps on the photos. But can you blame me? Maybe it's because I often feel cursed myself by the ability to regularly misplace important objects of various descriptions at the most inopportune times and have more than once climbed into my skippy car mentally panicking about where my keys were this time. So it's a relief to see that people I admire slip up every now and then. And I'm probably due...

That is a funny, funny story. And so is John's about Revere.

And I realize I'm painting a target on my own back, but what the hell, you only live once, let's go for it-- another photo.... looks like that guy breaking into the car has some experience...pretty complex operation there..the Four-Prong Technique...

[dalyduo]

Harsha,
No offense taken at your photo's... Your time will come. Your shots were taken well before I discovered the keys and that special moment of discovery really did happen just before Stevie popped the door open.

Forgot I had a Skippy suit on. I probably patted down the area where my right pants pocket was but not where the Skippy suit pocket was. When I found the keys in the Skippy suit I couldn't understand how I missed 'em because it was two keys with big fobs cabled together. Thought I was hallucinating. How could I have missed them? But if I'd patted down my pants pocket area and missed the Skippy suit pocket that would explain it.

In your first shot I'm walking back to the computer car shed to either get or return something borrowed from there and your second shot reminds me we borrowed the radio antennae from Don Van's rental car when the coat hanger wire proved too light. The antennae had too much Viagra as it wasn't easily bendable to reach the button but did serve the secondary purpose of acting as a wedge to keep the door pried open.

The car was a new Mazda 6 and what Stevie and I expected to be a five minute break-in turned into a group bungle-futz because a lot more thought had gone into foiling easy break-ins by placing the unlocking button in a relatively difficult location. for Stevie it was another case of "No good deed shall go unpunished."

[Slowhands]

The story gets funnier and funnier! "...borrowed a radio antenna..." Tell me, was that the "Easy-Detach" model, or the "Hey Frank, Wasn't There an Antenna On This Car When We Rented It Out?" model?

It's great being a guy-- we all think that on any given day any of us can break into a locked car.... It's the McGyver test of manhood: "I'll be in that car in 30 sec-- lemme see that radio antenna there..."

[dalyduo]

Stevie brought a small adjustable wrench with the antennae in mind. Backed it off half a turn and screwed it right out. Snugly returned to its original position when done. No harm no foul. Not McGyver... DeBrecht. Stevie De was a Blues Brother on a mission from god.

Originally Posted by Slowhands

The story gets funnier and funnier! "...borrowed a radio antenna..." Tell me, was that the "Easy-Detach" model, or the "Hey Frank, Wasn't There an Antenna On This Car When We Rented It Out?" model?

It's great being a guy-- we all think that on any given day any of us can break into a locked car.... It's the McGyver test of manhood: "I'll be in that car in 30 sec-- lemme see that radio antenna there..."

[Slowhands]

Pat, that is a story that rivals the "Alice's Restaurant Thanksgiving Day Massacree" in its epic humor and portrayal of the human condition-- Arlo would be proud. One day someone's gonna start playing the chord changes and you're just gonna have to tell it, in that great Hollywood voice of yours...

...also needs to be a fully annotated entry in NickNick's compendium of "You Can't Make This Up"

but too bad Don's rental car made it through unscathed

[dalyduo]

While nowhere near the stature of "Alices Restaurant" glad you liked my "Eating of the crayons". .

The case could be made that the only thing dumber than being a numb nuts is then writing about it.

[cheekychica]

Originally Posted by Slowhands

The story gets funnier and funnier! "...borrowed a radio antenna..." Tell me, was that the "Easy-Detach" model, or the "Hey Frank, Wasn't There an Antenna On This Car When We Rented It Out?" model?

It's great being a guy-- we all think that on any given day any of us can break into a locked car.... It's the McGyver test of manhood: "I'll be in that car in 30 sec-- lemme see that radio antenna there..."

Oh, the antenna "key" is classic. I've watched the Skippy mechanics unlock many a *cough* running Neon in pit lane with the antenna. Works well -- especially if there's a crack in the window...

Subarus, however, are very hard to break in to, and require a skilled tow truck driver, at least two blood pressure cuffs (or squares of rubber that operate in the same manner), and a long rod with a 90 degree bend at the end...