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Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Key to Happiness

I left my key to the house under the door mat this morning. Darci is coming to clean the house and I have a doctor's appointment at the sleep clinic 8 AM. Last time I saw Dr. Matsumura she told me that when I wake up in the middle of the night I should not get on the computer or watch TV or basically don't use any electronical gizmos. This time she tells me that should avoid these devices because they emit light which goes right to your retina. It must be a matter of brightness. Indirect lighting, i.e. light coming over your shoulder, is not going to be as bright as light shining in your eyes. Guess I need to find a deck of cards so I can play solitaire the old fashioned way.
     Got home and the front door is locked. Ring the bell and knock but Darci doesn't answer. I try the keypad for the garage door but nothing happens. Hmmm. Guess I'll go to McDonald's and eat breakfast. Pancakes, sausage, orange juice and coffee, $7.15. Coffee is $1, any size. Orange juice is large, like 12 oz. Surprised me. Usually they are half that size. When I was younger and drank a bit I thought those puny little juice servings were pitiful. Now that I don't need the big ones, they give them to me.
    Back at the house, I ring the bell again but still no response. I'm tired, I didn't get much sleep last night, I'll just take a nap in my truck. I actually manage to sleep for a bit.
    I look at the keypad. I can't remember the last time I used it, the battery is probably dead. The battery cover says 12 Volts. Shoot, I can jump start this sucker with my truck, if I can just get the cover off, but that requires a Philips screwdriver. Usually my Swiss Army knife (Tinker model) has one, but this one doesn't. I try a couple of other blades but the screw doesn't budge.
    I hear my neighbor banging away in his backyard, I know he has a Philips, I'll go ask him. When I wander over I find him knee deep in excavating a flat spot for a patio. Probably a bit rude to interrupt him to solve a problem that shouldn't have happened. I leave him be.
    Okay, fine, you stupid keypad, your battery cover is coming off whether you like it or not. I figure I'll ruin it by prying it off, but no, it stretches enough that it just pops off. The battery is about half the size of a triple A. I buff up the contacts, put it back in, give it a couple of twirls and presto! The garage door opens.
    Turns out when I was ringing the bell Darci was in the basement and running the vacuum cleaner. No wonder she didn't hear me.

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