This morning I went out for a walk and when I returned, I sensed immediately that something was wrong: my keys were gone.  Obviously, I had dropped the key ring with the three keys somewhere along my route.  There was nothing for it but to retrace my steps.

Either there is a God, or it could be that Lady Luck smiled on me today, because I found the keys lying in the snow about a half mile from my house.  My car key was intact, but my house key and office key were completely mangled.

Auto Transformation

Imagine how much worse it would have been if I hadn’t had duplicates!  Maybe it’s because I work in Information Technology, but I was reminded again of the importance of keeping backups.  Even Lifehacker says, “You never think losing your files will happen to you until it actually does, and you’re caught without a backup.” (Whitson Gordon, 29 Jun 2011).  One doesn’t have to think only in terms of data; it’s important to have backup plans, and obviously to have backup keys as well.

So take my advice: if you’re as scatterbrained and careless as I am, take steps to mitigate the damage you can do to yourself.

On 4 December 1996, I drove my new Honda Civic home from Lundgren Honda in Auburn.  Fourteen years later, at 8:24 this morning, I watched the odometer click to read 300,000 miles:

Okay, so I didn’t take the photo until this evening, but at least you know that the car didn’t explode after traveling so far.

I’m not a sentimental person, and I’m not into cars either, so I’m not posting any “What we’ve gone through together” type stories.  I am a numbers guy, so here’s what I have for you instead.  These are the mileage numbers from each December when I went for my state inspection:

• 1997 – 16,950
• 1998 – 36,470
• 1999 – 57,000
• 2000 – 79,230
• 2001 – 99,980
• 2002 – 118,450
• 2003 – 138,730
• 2004 – 159,790
• 2005 – 182,070
• 2006 – 205,120
• 2007 – 228,625
• 2008 – 252,700
• 2009 – 275,785
• 2010 – 299,555

And I still get 40 miles to the gallon.  Thank you, Honda!