Quite Alarming

As most know my husband has been working an immense amount of hours these past few months, some weeks he logs up to eighty hours. Although having him work from home has been wonderful sometimes it can be a burden on both Brandon and me. With the work computer just seconds from the living room and the ability to check email at all hours of the night causes a itch that some days can not be scratched and thus most evenings I don't get to see or spend a whole lot of time with my husband.

Already knowing that he was going to be working a late night this past Friday I decided to head to Cincinnati and spend a little extra time with my family. We already had plans to head up that way for a baby shower on Saturday and instead of spending an evening alone around the house I packed a bag and drove to Cincinnati with plans to have Brandon meet me there the next day.

The time with family was fantastic and as always my cute nephew entertained us all till we had tears in our eyes from laughter. Despite the winter weather we had a great turn out and the fellowship with friends was wonderful! Brandon left Saturday night to head back home to work some more and I decided to stay and visit a while longer thoroughly enjoying the time with my family.

Sunday morning my sister and I headed out to my car for church; I stuck the key in the door, unlocked the car, and lifted the handle. Dread immediately set in as the car alarm started to chime. For some reason, with our car, if you lock the door with the remote you can not unlock the car with a key. Once the alarm is detonated it shuts off the starter and the engine is incapable of being started.

Hearing the alarm, frustration set in and I climbed in the driver seat. I shut the door and hit the manual lock button on the drivers side; however, nothing happened and as I waited for the alarm to stop my frustration grew. Once the alarm stopped it's wailing I counted to 30 and stuck the key in the ignition and attempted to start the car; the alarm began screaming at me yet again and for some reason it seemed to get louder as it made another call. Now furious I waited for the alarm to quiet down and moved to get out of the car and the moment I opened the door the alarm sounded for a third time and my blood boiled. I was livid and was ready take the head of the man who caused the event to occur. I stomped into the house like a three year old throwing a tantrum and dialed Brandon's phone and when he didn't answer I only grew more upset. I pounded the numbers for a second time and yelled into the phone that he better answer and he did. With more calm than I felt I explained that he had locked the car with his remote before he left and now I couldn't get the car started. Shocked he asked: "Did I really?" The conversation did not last long since both of us were frustrated at the possibility that Brandon may have to drive back to Cincinnati just to "unlock" the car.

While I was at church Brandon did some research and discussed with a few friends what to do about our current dilemma while I talked to my family. The fact that I found the current safety feature on our car ridiculous did not stop Jen and mom from giggling over our predicament. Eventually, I was able to laugh at the situation that would of course happen to me but having gotten no sleep the night before and entering the uncomfortable stage in pregnancy it took a little longer than normal to see the humor in it all.

Come to find out I had to use what's called the "Valet Feature". If the alarm on the car has been set with the remote and is detonated with a key you must: get in, shut the door, stick the key in the ignition, turn on the battery, count to 30, and then turn on the engine. Not being a valet I was unaware of such a feature because I would have thought that if I have the key I should be able to open the door and start the engine. I guess my desire to work in a library in high school and college instead of parking cars was a poor choice on my part. :-P

Luckily Brandon did not have to spend three hours, round trip, in a car to come let me in mine and we learned a new trick about car alarms that I would have NEVER figured out on my own. According to the Hyundai dealership the car alarm is not suppose to shut off the starter like ours did but in my opinion this whole situation just goes to prove how stupid and pointless car alarms are.

When you think about it, it really is funny... and of course it would happen to me! :)