Lost in Des Moines

Today was my second day of office hours at work. I have to say that I truly enjoy office hours so far and I feel like I am actually making a difference. For example, I put the registration sticker on the KIOA van today. People will no longer be driving an illegal vehicle because of me. That is something to be proud of. I could have done only that and felt that my 5 hours were worth it. But wait, there's more.

Here is the story of my day. To preface it, today was a rainy day.

I was working on a computer when I get a call from a fellow intern who said he found out that the window was left down on one of the work vans and he put a poncho over it in order to keep the seat from getting wet. However, it was beginning to pour down rain and he was getting nervous about the poncho not holding up. He knew I had been to the storage site (about 10 miles away) once before and I could handle the task. I was game.

I got my purse and ran outside only to remember that Kaila had dropped me off at work so that she could use the car. Crap. So much for that plan. When I got back inside, I remembered that there was a no-longer-illegal van in the parking lot thanks to me. I could take that over to the site and roll up the window on the other van. Sure.

This van I am speaking of is no ordinary van. It is dark blue, old, and looks like something a pedophile would drive around. However, it serves its purpose well for the station. I had never driven anything that big in my life but I was willing to figure out.

I start up the mamma jamma and pull out of the parking lot. About 10 seconds later, I realize that I forgot the keys to the van at the storage place. It is kind of difficult to roll up a window without the keys. Crap. So I attempt to make it back to the station. Mind you, this is downtown Des Moines. One way streets. Right turn only lanes. Signals every 10 feet.

15 minutes later I finally make it the 1 block I needed to get back to the station. I successfully had cut off 1 old woman and run 2 red lights in the process. So anyway, I get the keys. Then I pull out of the parking lot again. I begin to head down a one way whenever I notice I am the only passenger vehicle. Apparently the road I always take back home from work is not really a road at all, but a bus-only lane. Great. I had been driving illegally for about 2 weeks now.

So I get off that road fast. I begin to head south on some road attempting to find what I think was 3rd street. I still don't know if it exists. But I did find 14th. Close enough. So I took that and figured I could find the next turn (Hartford). After another 20 minutes weaving through about 10 more streets I had never heard of - Indianola, Southeast 5th, line drive, principal - I find Hartford. I know by now that I am further from the storage site than I started at, but I attempt to make my way down the road.

Turns out, Hartford is really long. I spent about 10 minutes driving down it hoping to find something familiar. Then, I saw it. MY TURN. I found the storage site. No GPS. No help at all. GO ERYN! Too bad I suck at unlocking fences. And jumping them. That was another story for another time. But I did get the window rolled up and made it back safe and sound.

What was supposed to be a 20-minute trip max turned out to be more like 50 minutes. But I did what I was asked. And the best part of all was that nobody even noticed I had left. Or is that a good thing?