The Wheel and Lost With A GPS

I hate when reality proves there isn’t enough hours in a day or days in a week. When life is like being on a hamster wheel. With me running and running, and no matter the pace I get nowhere.

At least I’m still on my feet and life hasn’t thrown me out onto my butt. Smiley Face.

For anyone feeling like they’re in a wheel, let’s take a deep breath, put our heads down and focus. When it slows, we can jump off and take time to smell the roses.

How do I get so far behind so fast?

Are you, in the wheel or out smelling roses?

If you noticed I didn’t post last week it was because that darn wheel wasn’t laptop friendly. Besides, I was busy self-discovering.

Mister did a lot of traveling during his working years so him and I being separated was common back then. Since his retirement it rarely happens. The days we spent apart last week were eye opening. Who knew we would miss each other that much.

My biggest surprise was learning I’m human (or maybe aging). I’m not ashamed to share this next tidbit because maybe it will put someone else it’s happened to at ease.

Stress and sleep depuration can and probably will affect your concentration and coping skills more so as we age.

Did you know even an experienced traveler can get lost while using a GPS? It happened when I didn’t realize the wrong destination on the touch screen got programmed.

My road-trip home was going good, the first pee break was in the city I knew it should be in. After that was when things went south. Actually, I needed to drive south but under the cloudy sunless sky I didn’t realize I was heading east. Sure, I had moments of, this road seems different, but I chalked it up to Mister is usually driving while I’m distracted by reading or napping. When I passed a town I knew I shouldn’t was when all faith in the GPS left and I felt lost. That rattled my tired self which only frustrated me more. So, on the side of the unfamiliar highway with my data-less phone I made a few calls. Do you believe with everyone carrying cell phones it took five tries to reach someone who could confirm that I would eventually get home? The three hour trip turned into five because of my detour.

Thanks goes to the daughter-in-law who answered and the son who she put on the phone for the out of the blue call for a Google search.

Do you put your trust in a GPS when traveling?

The daughter-in-law informed me that it’s also very hard to get a good, clear picture of a hamster in a wheel for this post. Thanks for trying.

Where The Heck?

A spontaneous post of relief. We are not going crazy. Not yet anyway.

The situation started a couple days ago when the husband and I were building a shed base for an addition. It came time to cleanup for the day, and oh oh, did the keys just get locked inside the truck? No problem, right? We’ll grab the extra set.

A quick search of the key basket ended without success.

Now both sets of keys were missing. Peeking through the truck window we don’t see the first set. They must be on the ground somewhere.

We had to leave for a night away and both needed to get ready so he would scour the area where we worked while I took my shower.

A half hour later I had stuck my head out the door for a progress report. He snarled, “Would I still be looking if I’ve found them.” Okay, maybe it was a dumb question.

Then we heard a faint jingle. His jacket had an odd bulge. What the– The pocket lining had a hole and there between layers of cloth and stuffing we discovered the keys. Problem solved.

Not quite, where is the spare set?

We put the problem on hold until we returned home.

A new search began. Our cottage is not big, we head off in different directions to check all the logical places. Nothing. Well, darn it.

Maybe I left them in a previous purse I used? Nope.

With no luck, we’re stumped. Are we losing our minds?

Then he tells me there’s also a missing coat and thinks the keys are in one of its pockets. Neither of us can recall seeing that particular jacket all summer but a coat can’t disappear, this will be easier to find then a set of keys.

We dig through closets, nooks and crannies, the shed, trailer, the other vehicle, we’re defeated. Our mystery now involves two missing items.

It’s days later, the search is still ongoing. Again, we ask, are we losing our minds?

This morning in a text conversation, I mentioned our dilemma to the youngest daughter, maybe he left his coat at her place, I typed.

A miracle happened a short time later, she texted me back, she found the coat and keys!

What a relief.

Funny how all summer we hadn’t realized the keys or coat had gone missing and it’s also funny how once we knew it bothered us to no end, even though the items weren’t needed.