A GLITCH IN THE SYSTEM

When all systems are working life moves along smoothly.  When not, it is a patch up job.  And today was one of those!

After taking friends (Louise and Andrew) to the airport at a comfortable hour this morning I arrived back at the house and drove up the driveway to the garage.  When I reached for the remote control mechanism to activate the up-and-over door ... it was not there in the little dashboard tray where I keep it.  In the short term this was not a problem as we have 2 others in the house.

This is a Back-up mechanism with a green ribbon on it to make it easier to find should it end up in any of 101 places between the house and the inside of the car.

However, I wondered what I had done to mislay my Everyday one.  Then I remembered that I got out of the car at the airport drop-off zone to open the boot/trunk of the car.  I must have replaced it in my lap upon leaving the house and then dropped it on the ground when I got out of the car.

And, indeed, that is what happened.

In situations like this I always operate on the Chappaquiddick Principle, namely, if you've got bad news, get it out in the fullest possible detail and as early as possible.  In this case: go back immediately (1/2 hour drive) and look where you think you dropped it.

It was right where I had stopped but had been run over as the "After" photo above shows.  Now I keep a Jingle Bell type bell on the cord attached but ... the system failed here ... I did not hear it drop.  

When I got home again I stopped in the driveway and thought "I wonder if it still works?"  It did!  And I think the whole mechanism was saved from being totally smashed because I had wrapped yellow and green electrical tape around it.  It is my "system" for seeing things in poorly lit places.

So now I need to find a tame electronic wizard to gently tape it back together so it can function as, at least, a replacement Back-up. 

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*  The Chappaquiddick incident occurred on July 18, 1969, in which Mary Jo Kopechne, a female passenger of U.S. Senator Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy, was killed when he accidentally drove his car off a bridge and into a tidal channel on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts. Kennedy swam free and left the scene, not reporting the accident within nine hours, but Kopechne died in the vehicle.  [Wikipedia]