Okay, I just gotta tell you about my early morning runs. So far, no armadillos or skunks have been on my path. Only a suspected cross-dresser or two, but Ill get to that.
Saturday went fine. I was out by 5:20 AM and done before 6 AM, so the sun wasnt up yet. Great! By the way, temperatures here are 80-82 degrees at this time of the morning. This is about as cool as it will get in Houston for the rest of the summer.
Sunday morning, I repeat. Except THIS time, halfway through my run, I notice someone on the path in front of me in the dark, about a half block ahead. And theyre wearing a leotard and full tutu. Just out running. And the longer I watch this Tinkerbells gait, the more it looks like a guy. As I keep following Tinkerbell, Im thinking to myself, This guy likes to walk on the semi-dangerous side. Running outside in full ballerina garb, but in the dark of night, so no one can see him! I finally catch up to Tinkerbell and realize that Tink is a 60-something year-old lady with very short white hair. I casually ask her, Training for the Princess Half Marathon?, as I pass her. She replies, What?!? Obviously not. Nothing, I say, Have a good day, and I finish up my run. Ive no idea why she dresses like this for her runs.
Tuesday morning is a repeat of Saturday morning, only one hour earlier; out by 4:20 AM and done by 5 AM. No issues.
This morning, I walk out my front door at 4:20 AM, leaving my towel and bottle of ice water just inside the door on the floor, as usual. I lock the door, then drop the key on the porch. The dark porch. As I feel around for it, I find it, but slide it off and between the wood deck planks and underneath the porch. Ugghhh! Well, nothing can be done now, so I go for my run. And I add an extra mile on because I know it will be a while before any of my neighbors are awake and able to help me get under my fully skirted peer-and-beam house. I have no access to my tools. No flashlight. Ive not given a spare key to anyone and I had the locks all changed the day I closed on it in late April.
I get back from my run a little after 5 AM. I pry off a small portion of the house skirting with my bare hands, only to discover a support beam right in the middle, making it impossible to crawl through anyhow. My most helpful neighbor pokes his head out at 5:50 AM to roll his trash bin to the street. I explain my problem. He laughs at his high maintenance neighbor lady. We discover that theres plywood underneath the decking so the key has not dropped through and under the house, but its just laying flat on the plywood. No easy way to get it, short of ripping up deck boards and siding and stair railing. Long story short, he ended up calling a locksmith for me, who turned up in about 30 minutes. $118 to the locksmith and one case of Corona promised to the neighbor later, Im in my house, in the shower, and arriving at work one hour late. After I got home, I used specialty tweezers (from the shop at work) to get the key back up and out. Then I had to nail the skirting back on the house.
So Tim. Hows your morning runs going?!? Better than mine, I hope? Have a GREAT time in WDW!