D'OH!

I'm always trying to save a buck. So when I was planning my trip to Chicago, I thought it would be nice to use my friends' vehicles. The first week it was Joel and Mike's Tahoe. The second week, Tom was gracious enough to let me use his Volvo convertible. However, after today, I've now decided it's not worth the money saved to rely on their hospitality. Next time, Enterprise can pick me up.

Last night, I pulled into Tom's parking garage. I scanned for space 140. I parked the car. This morning, with my gym bag in one hand and protein shake in the other, I entered the parking garage. What I found was an empty space.

I began to sweat. It was similar to the time I came out of our home in Denver and realized my car was missing. In that circumstance, my Acura had been stolen and later found propped up on cement blocks across town. This time, however, I quickly realized I parked the car in space 138 - not 140. Tom's baby had been towed.

I felt horrible. I'd been anxious about driving since I hadn't been behind the wheel in months. And with me already being a passenger in a car wreck this past week, let alone Joel and Mike having a fender bender this past Saturday, I felt a bit superstitious about operating a vehicle.

"How could I be so stupid?" I thought (similar comments noted by Chris when we discussed my blonde moment). One $8 cab ride later and $150 deducted from our bank account, I had the car back in my possession. Fortunately, there were no scratches, dings or malfunctioning axels. This still didn't ease my mind.

Tom finally put me at ease once he inspected his car around 6. After that, I headed to dinner on foot. Just like in Paris, I'm back to walking and public transportation until I depart on Monday. I wouldn't want to get too comfortable.