Saturday night, at 9:06, Farmer H sent me a text:
"Do you remember what the combination is for the lock on the pool steps?"
Let the record show that I have NEVER gone down those pool steps since Farmer H built them. That was right after The Pony left for college in 2016. We used to get to Poolio's deck by climbing over the back porch rail and down like a spider (the boys), or out the basement door to the steps going up from the yard (Farmer H and me). I rarely went onto Poolio's deck, unless I was sitting to watch someone swim, and have a conversation.
Of course I had no idea of the combination to Poolio's gate lock. I do remember how Farmer H first built that gate, and I was worried about Jack falling down the partially-finished steps. Farmer H's original purpose was to keep HOS's kids from possibly getting in there unattended, before he or HOS could supervise. I don't know why Farmer H would think I knew that combination! I guess because I'm the keeper of all knowledge.
"NO! Did it have a 7? Whatever number you used, it didn't make any sense to me, because I thought, 'That's weird. Who's gonna remember THAT?' It had no significance to anything with us."
"I tried to open it this morning, but I didn't remember it."
"I thought you picked something that HOS could remember. Maybe his birthday?"
"It has FOUR numbers. Not three."
"It was back when HOS was bringing his boy down to swim. Or one of his girls were bringing him. I thought you picked the number for HOS. Maybe the year he was born?"
"I'll text him."
Sunday morning, Farmer H informed me that he found out the combination. Not from HOS. By looking back at his texts to The Veteran one spring, when he gave HIM the combination.
Let the record show that the number still has no significance to me. Or HOS. Or The Veteran.
"It's the lock I used at the job I had before the job I retired from. It was the combination that came with the lock."
Yeah. Pretty sure I'm not gonna remember it. Again.
I get asked such stupid questions ALL THE TIME. He will swear that I knew about whatever he is looking for and SAW him put it somewhere. If I paid attention to every utterance I would need more than a serotonin uptake drug to take every day!
ReplyDeleteKathy,
ReplyDeleteIt's always our fault! Like I went to work with him 30 years ago, up at his old factory off Chouteau near Tower Grove Park, and saw him use a combination that would one day be used on our Poolio's gate!
I forgot the combination to my own safe recently and boy was I annoyed! I keep important documents in there plus my month's supply of grocery money, but hadn't needed to dip into it in a while, so when I needed to last week, I couldn't get any! I could have used the key to open it, but that's stashed somewhere safe that I couldn't remember. I did eventually remember it and got my money.
ReplyDeleteSee? Here I am procrastinating instead of writing a new chapter to my story (*~*)
ReplyDeleteRiver,
ReplyDeleteWhew! I was on the edge of my seat there for a minute, worrying if you got into your own safe! Farmer H set the combination on our THIRD safe, the one I found in the garage that he pretended cost $5 but had really bought it at Lowe's for a couple hundred, to a number I used at the casinos for the little in-room hotel safe. So now I can get into ONE of our safes, and I think he put the combinations to the other two inside.
River II,
Well, I didn't profess to give GOOD advice, only that I give it freely!