Birders have all heard of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and the White-winged Dove and the such... well... today I was the "Red-faced Boo-boo Maker".
(None of today's photos show such a rare bird... they're just here to alleviate some of my embarrassment)
Gray Jay
The day starts early here and I'm always ready to get going on my agenda. Laundry was at the top of the list today... the washer and dryer are in the maintenance shop which is a couple of miles up the road. Before 6am I had the car loaded and headed out. I remembered my keys... good... because I have to unlock 2 gates and the shop door to use the laundry.
Got through the first gate... no problem. At the 2nd gate I stopped to see some Blackburnian Warblers along with some other birds. That took a while... even though I didn't get any photos.
Yellow-rumped Warbler
On to the shop... unlocked the door... Beep... Beep... Beep ... OH NO! I forgot that there is a security alarm system that I have to disarm. Even worse, I forgot the code! Beep... Beep... Beep.... on it went. I knew that it would automatically contact the Security Company... and the Limestone Police. But it's just going to keep beeping until it's shut off. We don't have phone service at our rig... which is 2 miles down the road... so I jump back in the car... hurry down to get Bill, who never forgets alarm codes, phone numbers and the such. As much as I love seeing the moose and bear along the way, I'm just hoping that none decide to cross while I'm on this mission.
Fiddle-head Ferns
I leave the car running... run inside to get Bill... he doesn't even have his shoes on.. just slippers... and he didn't grab a jacket (40's this morning)... off we go... the 2 miles back up the road. He disarms the system... I start my laundry... and we lock up. Just as we've locked the first gate, here comes the Limestone Police.
Ring-Neck Ducks (I still think they should be called "Ring-billed")
Rats! I explain what happened... he needs my name, date of birth, address... all that stuff. He has already called Kirk, who is on his way to the refuge. Rats! Rats! Rats! It's not even 6:30 am on a Sunday morning... Neither Bill nor I brought our phones with us from the rig so we don't have Kirk's cell phone number with us to give him a call so he can head back home.
The policeman is very polite and all, but he wasn't exactly chatty, either....
Porcupine
Bill is freezing out there... jeans and a tee-shirt (with bedroom slippers) just aren't enough... he waits in the car. About 20 minutes later Kirk shows up... tells the police that I'm not a criminal intent on a B&E..... and the police head back to Limestone.
American Wigeon (male)
I'm terribly embarrassed about my "boo-boo".... but Kirk is kind. And I got a little lesson in how to handle the alarm in case it happens again (Oh my... I hope not!)..... But this is our 8th year to volunteer here (the alarm system is new since the last time we were here) and we've become such good friends that a lot of good nature kidding goes on... so you can bet I haven't heard the last of this yet!
That's All For Today!
Awwww….that's nice that you have developed a friendship…makes it just a LITTLE bit easier to be embarrassed…sounds like something I would do! Locked myself out of my house once, back in Indiana. Had a neighbor call the fire department and ask for just a squad car to help me get back into my house with my two little girls standing outside with me, and stressed it WASN'T an emergency. They come, not with the squad car, but with the fire truck roaring down the street, sirens going. Grrrrrrrrr…they were going to take an ax to the front door but I asked them to break a window instead. Guess what? Had the house keys on me the whole time in my purse, which in panic mode, I didn't see buried at the bottom. See, not so bad! And I'm 40 years older than when that happened. Loved the title today! Sounds like a great name for a bird, the not-so-rare kind!
ReplyDeleteWell, the Limestone police have ID'd your mug, for future reference. On the bright side, they won't need to remember, until there's a new code next year.
ReplyDeleteOh my! Glad you got it all sorted out! Don't you just hate it when that happens??
ReplyDeleteAt least you had an 8 year good record! One of the many jobs I held was a cashier at the old original Sears store in downtown Dallas. It was a part time job in the evenings. There is this HUGE walk in safe where all the cashier's money trays are kept. I went in and got mine and closed the door.
ReplyDeleteImmediately, I saw the look on a fellow cashier about to go inside and get her tray.... it reeked REEKED of ... o m g .. I said, what? YOU JUST LOCKED THE SAFE DOOR! huh? but but...
Sooooo had to call my just hired me boss to get out of her evening meal ~ she lived in Garland ~ and drive all the way back downtown to come and ONLY she could open it. thank goodness the time lock had not been engaged yet...
She was not happy. I felt really ... really bad awful then consoled myself ~ no one else did ~ that they should have told me the damn door would self lock if you shut it. dangerous.
I was on my knees with embarrassment. I wasn't fired but .. I was from then on ~ I stayed six months ~ regarded as a dipshit. ha
Yep. we all have those little blunders now and again. Makes life interesting. ;)
ReplyDeleteEmbarrassment is a one sided emotion, and thus a waste of time (grin). Just laugh it off and make the best of it. Now you can add "burglar" to your resume. . .
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing-nice to know others have those kind of moments:)
ReplyDeleteThat's funny, but I know the feeling. I drove my neighbor in her car to the airport, drove back in it, then closed it in her garage and promptly her car alarm went off. I could not figure out how to stop it. She didn't answer her cell, was in the plane by then. Came home, went through youtube vids on how to stop the thing, and finally got it stopped. But it went off probably for 40 minutes. Oh my. But no police at least. I hope the officer could laugh about it later. You too! You forgot the snipe in your list.
ReplyDeleteSharp new header! I like it.
ReplyDeleteYea, I'm afraid the kidding has only just begun!!! I can only imagine how stressed you became with that annoying alarm going off. We are all only human!!! :-)
ReplyDeleteHaha, you breaking in to steal someones dirty laundry?
ReplyDeleteMade for an interesting start to the day at least. No real harm done I am sure.
Thank you for this excellent & thoughtful post, so full of ideas that I have printed it out so i can read again & your post motivated me
ReplyDeleteVery
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