Life's little adventures

I think that most people have many small adventures every day. I know I do. When we plan our days, we think of the way we will spend our time, but there are all kinds of interruptions to our schedules that change our plans. Yesterday was a good example. We had our usual early Sunday morning start, eating our breakfast and arriving at church in time for a class before worship, participating in worship and a congregational meeting following the service. As a bit of a treat to ourselves and our guests, we went out to lunch at a restaurant near the church. It was a warm summer day and in the afternoon I joined our grandchildren for a swim in our son’s pool. After swimming, one of my adventures began.

I had switched into my swimming trunks at home before heading over to our son’s place. I drove our pickup because I wanted to leave the car for Susan who was staying home with our Australian guests. When we got to the farm, I slipped the key to the pickup into my pocket and forgot about it when I dove into the pool. I only remembered the location of the key after we finished swimming and prepared to head back to our house to change. It is a key that has a three-button wireless device built into it. Sure enough the buttons that lock and unlock the doors failed to work. Electronics don’t like water.

It wasn’t a problem because the truck was not locked. However, the key has an electronic security chip built into it so when I attempted to start the truck nothing happened. I removed the key, shook it and blew out some of the water. They key worked and we drove home. At home, I took the battery out of the key and used canned air to dry the circuit board. I replaced the battery and tested it. The doors unlocked and locked with the buttons on the key. Success!

My success was short-lived. A few minutes later the horn on the truck started honking in its alarm mode. I could stop the honking by placing the key in the ignition and turning it to the on position, but after a few minutes it would start up again. After three times of rushing to the truck to stop the noise, I took the key apart and removed the battery. More blasts of canned air seemed to help dry out the circuits, but I decided to leave the battery out of the key overnight so I wouldn’t have to rush out to attend to the truck in the middle of the night.

Until cars had remotes for locking and unlocking doors it was just fine to get car keys wet. The key for the truck might have survived a dunking when it was new, before the battery had been replaced several times and the seal on the battery cover became worn with use.

In the way of automobile repairs these days, going to the dealer and having a new key with remote buttons built into it will cost more than $200. On the other hand, I can continue to use the key without the battery installed and purchase a remote fob to attach to a key ring. The remote fobs can be obtained for around $5 each. I’m pretty sure I can live without the buttons on the key. On the other hand, a few hours of drying out might result in the key working normally without setting off the panic alarm.

The situation resulted in a distraction yesterday and consumed a few minutes of my time, but it wasn’t the main business of my day, which was wonderfully filled with conversations and activities with our guests. The adventure with the wet key will soon fade from my memory as one solution or another will work out. When I remember the day, memories of the conversation at the morning class, images of our worship service, swimming with our grandchildren, a family meal and a lovely evening walk to the beach with old friends and our daughter and grandson will take their rightful place.

The side adventures of my life continue to provide a certain level of entertainment and diversion, however. For example, our daughter knows that a long, steamy shower without turning on the exhaust fan will eventually result in the loud sound of our smoke detectors. She didn’t know that a couple of days ago. Learning it was an adventure. I know how to replace the circuit board for the remotes and reprogram the remotes for our garage door opener. It is a new skill that I never thought I would need. Based on how often it has occurred in my life, chances are pretty good that I’ll never have to do that chore again. But I know how, just in case.

For many years, I had a little card over my desk that said, “The interruption is my job.” I developed routines for many of the chores of my job, but the most important parts of ministry for me often came in unplanned ways. Someone would stop into my office for a brief conversation, the phone would ring, or some other interruption of my work would result in the discovery of needs to which I responded. I often found myself doing some of the routine chores at odd hours. I never regretted this style of work. I knew that each work day would have surprises and that there would be no time for boredom. Even when I thought a day would be simple with just a few tasks, it would fill with challenges and opportunities for ministry.

Retirement, or semi-retirement, or whatever it is I do, has been a challenge for me, but it has not left me a life without adventures and challenges. I’m grateful for that. Even though the sound of the horn honking as an alarm is annoying, the challenge of solving the problem is a fun little mental exercise that entertains me. I enjoy surprises.

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