I just moved into my new home for the next 5/6 weeks in Visalia. Tomorrow is my first day of orientation with the OBY/GYN staff from the school and then on Tuesday I have orientation with the local hospital and then I head to a clinic in the afternoon.
Today was a bit of a doozy. Most of my packing was done today, but that all went pretty smoothly. The drive was nice. Very little traffic and I was able to ward off any sleepiness for the most part with little help from the Freakonomics MD podcast.
After a long drive, I arrive a bit earlier than expected, park, and grab a few easily accessible items and my little welcome packet from my carefully stuffed Honda Civic and head straight toward my assigned apartment, eager to unpack and unwind.
When I get to the door, I start pulling out items from the packet and matched them with the list stickered on the front of it. Apartment key? Check. White keycard? Check. Garage remote? Check. Key fob? Check, it was attached to the key. Mailbox key? Wait, there are supposed to be two keys? I examine the bowels of the mysterious yellow envelope further, and the only thing remaining inside was a red carabiner with a one of those ring things (those things that usually have key on them) attached to it. I remember seeing the carabiner when I first received the packet and thought it was strange that they just gave me a carabiner with nothing attached to it, but I didn’t really think anything of it. At that time, I saw a key attached to the key fob and assumed those were the important stuff, and maybe the carabiner was just for convenience.
A little confused, but slightly relieved that at least I had the apartment key, I turn over the envelope packet just to check that the other key wasn’t somehow stowed in a hidden compartment embedded in the paper. No luck. It was probably supposed to be attached to the carabiner, but it’s fine, I probably won’t even be getting mail in the short amount of time I’m here.
I try the key in the door, and the key is immediately rejected. Not a single millimeter of this key is able to be inserted into the keyhole. Puzzled and maybe a little panicked with a scary thought creeping in the back of my mind, I flip the key. No good. I then flip it back and try again ’cause I must have just missed the hole. Nope. For some reason, I then start trying all the keys from my car keys. Maybe in my excitement, maybe I immediately took the key out of the envelope the day I got the packet and put it on my car keys. How silly of me, though you’d think I’d remember that. As I work through my keys, including the specially marked key for my childhood home, that creeping thought is upgraded to a strong likelihood. I run over to the mailboxes near where I parked my car to test my hypothesis. I find the box associated with my apartment and try the key associated with the fob. It slides in smooth like butter and I am able to turn the key open the box which in turn greets me with a collection of uncollected mail from probably the last 6 months.
Ok so the key that I have is definitely for the mailbox. I call my classmate who is going to be living with me to see if he also got a carabiner. Turns out he did, except his had a key on it… and he was still in LA, a whole three hours away. Welp. I start calling numbers, kinda getting the run around from all the different numbers listed as afterhours contacts for the apartment complex.
Long story a little bit shorter, I would have to wait for my classmate to get here with this key and get new key from management on Monday (tomorrow).
I took the chance to explore the downtown a teeny bit and just see what was close by. Ended up at a bar where I was able to chill with a beer and catch up on some flashcards and practice questions from the now historical Step 1 exam. I eventually go back to the apartment and start unloading things by the door to the apartment, and my classmate shows up pretty much around my 3rd to last trip. We are able to get inside, and I finally start to get situated in the new digs.
So that’s how my day went. Not exactly how I imagined it would go, yet here we are. I don’t want to be bitter or upset about what happened, nor do I blame anyone because shit happens, and also I probably should have double checked about the empty carabiner thing. It was stressful and frustrating at times, but ultimately, I’m just glad things worked out (kind of) and at the end of the day (literally), I’m here, I’m safe, and right now I won’t let this hiccup get in the way of me making the most of my experience here. See you tomorrow (today).
nANIMOv 