Dude, where's my car?

I had a doctor's appointment this morning and was pleasantly surprised when I was in and out of my doctor's office in thirty minutes. That almost never happens! I usually spend about forty-five minutes in the waiting room, but not today. I checked in at 10:05 and was on my merry way by 10:35... or so I thought.

Fabian and I dropped my Pathfinder off at the Nissan dealership this morning because it has been making a squeaking noise, so I took him to work and drove his Acura all day. My doctor's office is in the new professional building at the hospital and I had to park in the new seven-level parking garage. This seemed easy enough until I had to find the car after my appointment. I literally walked up and down six flights of stairs (I didn't check the roof) eight times looking for the car!

I tried hitting the panic button so that I would hear the car's alarm. That didn't work. I would later find out that you have to hold the button down for a couple of seconds. Locking the doors didn't work either. On my Nissan, the horn toots pretty loudly when I lock the doors from my key fob, but not on the Acura. The TL makes a low, unobtrusive noise. Didn't the people at Acura foresee moments like these?!

Finally, after about twenty minutes of searching, I paged security from the emergency box with the flashing, blue light. I let them know that I couldn't find my car and the operator assured me that a security guard would come get me and take me through the parking garage in his golf cart to find my car. Fifteen minutes passed and I never made the acquaintance of this so-called golf cart driving security guard. Frustrated with my ridiculous situation and the fact that I had been baking in the 97 degree heat for 40 minutes, I decided to give it one more try. I climbed the stairs two more times going up and down and checking every level until it dawned on me to go right at the top of the stairs instead of taking a left. I hit the panic button and there it was! After nearly an hour of searching, I had found the car. Next time you want to mix up your work out routine, just have me hide your car in a parking garage.