Dude, where's my car?! The other night I was leaving work... Wait, wait. That's not quite right. Let's try that again. The other night I was trying to leave work. But I had a little problem. I could NOT find my car. I got in the elevator, pushed the 2 because that's where I thought I'd parked, got out of the elevator and started walking. Then I stopped. Huh. I guess I didn't park on 2 after all I told myself. So I took the stairs up to 3. No car. Up to 4... no car. 5? I know it wasn't on 5 or 6. I went back to 2. It HAD to be on 2. No car. I went back up to 5 just to check. (Elevators are niiiice.) Nope. Not there. So I just stood there for a minute. Then I called security from my handy dandy cell phone. (HOW did I live without one for so long!?) They have cameras, you know. (Security. Not the phone. Oh wait. My phone DOES have a camera. But that's not really a part of this story is it? Yes, this is what it's like inside my head. Now get out of there!) So I told the guy what was wrong and he starts flipping through the cameras. "I don't see any Mini Coopers." Um. Great. I was almost in tears. It'd been a really long night and I just. Wanted. To. Go. Home. Come ON car!! WHERE ARE YOU!? Did someone have you for dinner? Is someone out joyriding in you? (Because you know when something isn't where you thought it was, SOMEONE TOOK IT! Right?! I know I'm guilty of that being my first thought.) "Does someone else have your key?" I told him there was a spare at home but I'd just talked to my husband. And I had my key in my hand. Just no car to put it in. He panned back through the parking deck again then a few minutes later said there's one spot where the camera angle doesn't quite reach and that I should check there. We hung up. I started walking. Again. And as soon as I pressed "end," I knew he was right. You can't see that spot from the elevator and that's, of course, exactly where I was parked. Hello, my car. I used to make fun of people who couldn't remember where they parked their car. But I guess now I'm one of them and I actually found merit in something that when I heard it the first time, I rolled my eyes and thought "OooooooK. What. Ever." And that's this: "I got a reserved parking space so I wouldn't have to remember where I parked every night." A great solution if you want to pay double for parking every month. Or wait. Maybe the price isn't so big when you factor in the time that could be wasted looking for your car. And sanity. Let's not forget sanity. Because, let's face it, I'm not sure how much of that stuff I actually have left. Stay tuned. You won't want to miss a hilarious tale of kitchen follies.