I should really write a book on all the idiotic things I manage to do. I never considered myself a disorganised or stupid person but it appears that is pretty much me. I’m very lucky I have a good network of intelligent people with lots of common sense around me…otherwise I’m not sure I would have survived to this grand old age of 29.
So asides from my latest Anna Idiot Moments of forgetting my bra when staying over my parent’s house and getting on the wrong train on the way back from London the other week, my latest adulting fail was rather more stressful.
Wednesday last week I headed to the garage to get my car serviced. They handily gave me a hire car so they could do the service the next day. Unfortunately the hire car they gave me was HUGE. I could barely see over the steering wheel. A normal person would take their time aclimatising and adjusting but I felt like I needed to make a move or they’d think I was weird for just sitting there. So as I slowly navigated round the packed car park (lots of brand spanking shiny new cars about the place) I heard a noise and felt something knock into the side of the car. I only went bumped into one of their stupid signs. NIGHTMARE. I jumped out and see a small dent… nooo!
No one saw so I quickly drove off all flustered and panicked (the sign was fine by the way, of course). I notice that they’ve left me with no petrol as well, which further adds to my emotions of I HATE DRIVING. I survey the damage further at the petrol station (after putting a minimal amount in, God damn them). Yeah there’s definitely a dent. I take a photo of both sides to send to my dad later to see his opinion.
I then arrive home and realise to my horror I’ve left my flat keys in my car back at the garage…and the garage is now closed. I also realise my parents don’t have their spare keys anymore as I got them to drop them off at the lettings agent ready for me moving out. WHY. WHY AM I SO STUPID.
I ring my mum and promptly burst into tears. It wouldn’t be so much of an issue as I could have just gone back to my parent’s but Alfie is inside the flat and I can’t leave him overnight alone! My mum, bless her, calms me down but ultimately can do nothing to help me. I accept defeat and ring a local locksmith who comes out and picks my lock for me. £78 later (ouch!) and I’m inside. Alfie has been asleep. He couldn’t care less.
I spend that evening stressing about the car dent though… The next day when i drop the hire car back off I spend the entire time there sweating, waiting for them to check the car. In an amazing stroke of luck, the lovely guy that serves me doesn’t do any sort of hire car check (he didn’t do one before he handed the keys over to me the day before either…). I’m thinking this is a clearly a kink in their operation. Not that I’m complaining! I feel bad for him not checking as he might get a bit of a telling off about this but, at the same time, I can’t count my lucky stars quick enough as I (carefully) drive out of there in my shiny serviced NORMAL-sized Fiat.
So if anyone thinks that they haven’t got a grasp on life or they’d not a fully functioning adult, just look at me. I am regularly failing life. I do not have my shizz together. How the hell I think I can be a landlady for my flat, well I have no idea! If you want a laugh in life, just keep following what i get up to and I can reassure any doubts you have about how your life is doing. I wish I could learn from my mistakes but there are so many mistakes in life to make… But hey, you have to have a sense of humour about things. If I didn’t, I’d be a mess on the floor.
Have you had any recent adulting fails?
Do you like driving?
haha oh dear what a day! I regularly fail at adulting by losing my keys, wallet, phone, bank card, anything I put down anywhere ever. I’ve decided adulting isn’t really for me anyway…
I do shit like this all the time too. My other half just thinks I am ridiculous. I once left our house keys in Cardiff, and we got back to London at like 11pm, we had to stay in a Hilton overnight which was like 199 quid for the room, we couldn’t get a locksmith to break the lock as it was a rented flat. I’ve also lost my bank card and new house keys and broken an iPhone in a 2 week period, so I am definitely in the same boat as you!
Lauren (@poweredbypb) recently posted…Richmond Runfest Marathon 2017
Oh dear! But well done on the car! I like to read your adulting fails – they make me feel less alone. My recent one? Dropping my month old Samsung S8+ in the car park at B and Q, smashing the back glass (£75 later). The result? An almost toddler tantrum of “this is why I can’t have nice things”.
Steph recently posted…Ultimate Coffee Date: June 2017 – the big catch up
Oh dear that sounds so stressful. I don’t mind driving but only in a car I am used to- when I had a big crack in my windscreen (that got bigger while I was driving- I spent that journey terrified that the whole windscreen would suddenly collapse in on me) I used Andy’s mum’s car, which was his old car (and a Clio like my old car), but I have never driven a hire car as it takes me ages to get used to one.
I tend to have mainly technology fails which Andy then has to help me with (or our tech support person at work)- this week I have had computers not connecting to printers, the computer changing the date to 2050 so nothing would work as the liscences had run out, the program I needed to use not working (despite it being uploaded onto the machine and being shown the day before)- it just kept shutting down, my phone crashing constantly for about 2 hours, the bluetooth on my garmin failing to connect and not connecting when I plugged it in, and then when I reset the watch it just got stuck on vibrating constantly for several minutes until google told us how to reset it properly.
Maria @ Maria runs recently posted…A week that flew by, baking, orange drinks and Clif bars
Pay for a letting agency to do the day-to-day management of the flat. After several frustrating interactions with the tenants, it’s the only way to maintain sanity.
I was far too nice with tenant batch 1, with the result that they walked all over me…and simply created masses of stress. Not worth it.
I HATE driving so this sounds like my actual nightmare! I haven’t driven since 2009 and here in Dubai the driving style is absolutely terrifying so even being a passenger is bad…
Good luck with renting your flat out – I’ve found the landlady experience to be less stressful than I thought it would be as it sort of runs itself once the tenant is settled! x
That sounds so stressful. Leaving your keys in your car is truly an honest mistake. It could happen to anyone, no matter how organized they are! And it’s good that you didn’t get in trouble for the dent.
Elizabeth C. recently posted…Boston Marathon Acceptance + Training Update
Anna – Please don’t worry, I have a blip at least once a week! I’m always forgetting things, having to come home at lunch because I’ve left something. Or just generally failing at being an adult.
There was the time I backed into the giant great big pink skip on our drive…& after years of driving long distances, I’ve really gone off it. I try to avoid taking long trips as much as I can…
In relation to the flat, as others have said – Do consider using an agency, it’ll take a lot of pressure off you!