Thursday 1 August 2013

That car was doomed I tell you....doomed!

I appreciate that some of the problems which happened during my week with the miniature car may not have been the car's fault - there may or may not have been some human error involved - that human may or may not have been me, but here is the rest of the tale.....

So I left you with our 2 night stay at the Premier Inn, not so bad for the 3 of us....you're very definitely on holiday when you're in a hotel, any kind of hotel, in any place, even if you have to watch some cricket - it's a holiday in my book!

I'd exchanged some Tesco vouchers for a local pub restaurant and we had a huge amount to spend (thanks for the triple value Mr Tesco!) so we ate well for both nights and on the last morning there were just 2 of us in the room as number 1 son had stayed over at the boarding school with his Dad as they'd had an evening out.....to a cricket match!

Little Miss and I packed our bags, enjoyed a good breakfast - kids eat free so stuff as much in as you can, fill your pockets if possible!


We loaded the car and headed to the school for the first match of the final day.
Not a difficult manoeuvre, the car park was next to the pitch our team were playing on. I unloaded the car - chairs, food, drinks, kitchen sink came out of the miniature car with teeny tiny boot (trunk). And we set up camp on the boundary (Boundary - see I do know some cricket terminology!)

After about an hour I needed to collect something from the car, but could I find the key? No sign of the car key, bags were turned out, contents strewn on the floor, steps to the car park were retraced, children were interrogated!

I then had the humiliating task of asking the other parents, who at the best of times I find intimidating! You have the stylish "Boden-esque" mum's, the business men "old school tie" dad's and lots of networking being done and generally being very ambitious on behalf of their children. Not really my kind of thing!

I always seem to do something stupid, or say the wrong thing so the fact that I'd lost the car key didn't appear to surprise anyone! Eventually I realised that if we were ever to make it home I would need to call the garage and "fess up" - after I'd shouted at them, several times a few days before. I called and explained that I had accidently mislaid the key,
 "no problem madam we'll drive a spare out to you, are you at home?" Oh dear!
 " no actually I'm just outside Birmingham, approximately 200 miles from you"
 - mumbles, possibly some swearing on the other end of the line.
She couldn't help other than to advise I phoned the RAC & pretended I'd locked the key in the boot - this apparently gets the best response! I duly called them and they said they'd put me on their list and be with me within 3 hours!
 Oh crikey, 3 hours? I got the withering look from the builder as usual.
 Other parents smiled and tried to be sympathetic while implying they'd never done such a thing themselves.
 
Over an hour later I was still really upset and frantic with worry about possible tellings off and charges from the RAC. They'd also told me that if the key wasn't in the car (I was sure it wasn't) they'd take us all home on the back of a low loader truck - oh the humiliation, not to mention the length of time the journey would take on a pick up truck!
 
So what happened after an hour?
 The builder found the key in his pocket, of course he denies 100% actually putting it there himself! Livid is not the word!
So we got home safely and all in one piece in the teeny tiny car, having put over 1000 miles on it in the short time it lived with us.
 
But the next day, it's last day with us, Little Miss and I decided to take the car to visit a local festival while the boys were at cricket.
 
Off we went on a hot and sunny Sunday, parked in the car park/farmers field and had a great day out. There was entertainment, things to make and do, as well as lots of craft stalls and tents.

Glitter tattoo - which appears to have been photographed 47 times - not by me!


Why hoola hoop with one hoop when you can hoola hoop with three?


And when it was time to leave we were exhausted,
so we staggered back to the field to find......no car!

We walked and walked until our legs were aching, many people left but there was no sign of our little car. I had no idea what to do next, but after an hour of pacing up and down
(yes it actually was 1 hour)
 a nearly empty car park we admitted defeat and decided to re trace our steps back to the festival field to report it stolen.
We thought it a little strange that anyone would steal a teeny tiny car when there were some fabulous cars all around but who knows how a thief's mind works?
 I was already thinking about the call to the garage to say I'd found the key, but sadly lost the car!

As luck would have it on the walk back we bumped into some friends and had a little chat, then they asked WHICH car park we were in?? There were two identical fields for parking.... who knew??
I admitted nothing to no one - so please don't tell!

22 comments:

  1. This did make me laugh out loud. Been there, done that on the I think someone's stolen the car malarky. I never mastered the hoopla hoop so to use three at the same time is pretty impressive!
    June

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  2. Jay...
    You made me laugh-out-loud...
    These are all things I could have easily done myself!
    And you're a stronger woman than I am, I can't handle the "uppity up the butts of others types"!! I'm afraid a mouth American might offend them :)
    Oh and the festival looks wonderful.... I love going to things like that
    .. and Yay for Tesco points! I try to collect sainsbury points like mad... even with Online shopping and Internet searches.
    Have a great weekend my friend!
    Tammy

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  3. Just read your road trip posts - must have been hell to live through but I am sure it will be a story often looked back on and will always make you smile. When you lost your car in the field that made me laugh out loud as it's one of my main shopping hazards I always forget where I park - at the time it's so not funny.
    Hope you and your boys are enjoying the Ashes
    Sue x

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  4. Oh dear! It sounds like a bit of an adventure, one you could do without, but at least you have a story to tell!
    My Dad lost the car key when we were doing a tour of the Granada Studios in Manchester. We got back to the car after the tours had ended for the day and he couldn't find the key - similar thing to you, everything got unpacked while we searched for it but we found nothing. Mum and I had to go and wait in a swanky hotel and have dinner for hours while he waited outside for the AA to come and fix us up. It's made it a very memorable day out! x

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  5. Oh dear just not your day!! But all ended well and you did have a sumptious breakfast by the sound of things!! I will let everyone know when I lose weight probably mumble, mumble when I don't!!
    Happy days

    Chris xxx

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  6. You do make me giggle with your antics !

    We always take a little more than needed from those buffet breakfasts so they can do lunch too !

    Can't stand up themselves people & would probably do something to irritate them too.

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  7. Oh Jay you do have memorable trips. Can't stand those sorts of people either, you're much more my type of person.

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  8. That's the sort of thing that happens to me too, so I am glad there is someone else out there like me too! How is it others don't have adventures every time they go out? I had a Boden catologue through the door the other day and was thinking of buying a top from it, maybe it won't match my eccentric ways!
    Sarah x

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  9. Oh you are so funny! I love it when something I got blamed for didn't turn out to be my fault :)

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  10. I'm with you on those parents - I would be totally intimidated by the old school ties and the Boden babes!

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  11. Oh dear you do make me laugh! I've lost my keys in my flat before and I've literally pulled everything out trying to find them!

    Victoria
    FlorenceandMary.com

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  12. Well that sounds like a very stress filled couple of hours and all to do with the flipping car, darn those things, they can make life so difficult sometimes!
    Glad everything got sorted in the end and you and LM had fun at the festival.
    Lisa x

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  13. Once I awoke in Ludlow to find my little Fiat UNO had been carried away from where I had parked it!!! I had not seen that it was market day the day after I arrived. That was in 1975 and I have never forgotten waking in a hotel. Looking out of the window and seeing a busy market where I had armed my car!!!

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  14. Oh Jay, I love that I'm not the only one who does stuff like this!
    And PS, join in my Random Zen Ten challenge on Instagram whenever you like, see you there
    Lisa xx

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  15. So it's not just me? thank goodness....I have to make a concerted effort to remember exactly where I park every time.....and Ihave no sense of direction, which doesn't help either!

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  16. Hello Jay, missed this post ... Like you trailing behind blog wise!

    This is so funny and could be me you are writing about so eloquently! Years ago we had an incident with keys, and that was Steve's fault ... But they just don't admit it do they?

    Tesco vouchs are fab when you use them to do the deals ... I'm using mine to get all Harry's stuff for Uni ...

    Have a great day

    Claire xxx

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  17. I think it was the car, having a laugh. They do that sometimes. Ours once thought it would be fun to hide in an airport car park the size of a small country where every single car appeared to be a silver colour. Actually, come to think of it, I think the mister must still be out there looking for it............!

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  18. oh wow!! Thank goodness you found the key with you though! I've also locked myself out of my car twice!!

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  19. I'd be exhausted from the day, the panic and the relief combined!!!

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  20. Hey just checking in to say hello, you're probably on vacay...and the last photo of your lovely daughter reminds me to get some hula hoops for our Mad Men party (yes apparently it was a game people played in the Sixties!)

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  21. I have done that a million times and it is the worst. I think the best day for my sanity was when I got a car that could not like while the keys were still inside. The car obviously locks when we are driving or the car is turned on. This helps me so much I can not even explain.

    Earl Mark @ Eastway Lock

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