murphy's law: what can go wrong.. will go wrong.

i hadn't seen vidya in a long time and wasn't able to join her on her dancing adventures since i think.. last year?! anyway, her birthday was yesterday, so i decided i needed to celebrate with her. the point of the evening was to find vidya a boy. amusing concept because i was the only other single girl there and suck at being a wingman (wingwoman? wingperson?). i guess my issue is i go clubbing to dance, and only dance. i'll be social with friends, friends of friends, and friends of friends of friends (you get my drift..). so the concept of going up to some random person in a club is foreign to me. i suppose it's really a good way to get some hilarious stories though.

anyway, vidya's free spirit attracted a clan of spikey-haired ginos. it all started by vidya touching the hair of one of the guys as we were walking by him. he joined our little dancing group and stuck with us the entire night. vidya was confused by him, "who does he like?!" i don't know.. he didn't try to dance with any single one of us, or chatted any person up. i figured he found us entertaining and wasn't the type to go around hitting on girls like his friends so he just stuck with us. i don't remember his name, so he will forever be known as gino #1. his friends, on the other hand, who constantly roam the dancefloor would come back to us now and again for a break and i guess to check up on their friend.

i proved myself to be very white that night knowing the words to all the 80s pop, 90s alternative, and some classic rock the dj sneaked into his set. it was a great night for dancing, i enjoyed it! this is the first time i stayed at a club until it shut down for the night. then again.. closed at 2:30am? what's that about?!

off we headed (vidya, karen, and i) to burrito boyz since vidya's never had it and i was parked up the street from the place. it never fails: every time i go there's always some cop in there waiting silently in the corner for his burrito. that burrito totally hit the spot.. i've been having cravings for the past month!

we walked out and looked up the street.. wow no cars. wait.. NO CARS! where's MY car?! oh crap, oh crap. where's my car? i look up at the sign, "no standing after 2am". oh.. !%^@$&#. i've never experienced having any car towed before whether i needed it to be or not. so as we were walking to find a cab, i saw a tow truck driver. "i'm pretty sure my car was towed. do you know where it is?" luckily he did and told us where to go. found a cab and off we went. we got lectured by the cab driver during the entire five minute drive, "you should read the signs.. tow truck drivers are vultures.. blah blah blah." i was more concerned about my car than making conversation with the driver.

we got to the place and there was a line up inside the trailer office at 3am. the guy in front of us didn't have his shirt on. was he hot? no.. his face was bloodied up and got all over his shirt. we noticed that we were the only girls in there.. apparently there are many girls who are much smarter than me in toronto! one of the guys in line was told his car was in suspension for 12 hours, so he couldn't get it out until tomorrow. they didn't give him a reason why, which got me slightly worried. i asked one of the guys in line, "so.. how much is it to get a car out?" $172.. ugh. you've got to be kidding me. when i got to the front of the line, i gave the releaser-of-cars my licence plate.

me: do you have my car..?
releaser-of-cars: you didn't call the police to check?
me: no. i was told by a tow truck driver that it was probably here.
releaser-of-cars: you should always call the police and they will track it down for you. but yes, i do have your car.
me: yes! you're my new best friend.
releaser-of-cars: $142. am i still your best friend?
me: yes cause it's cheaper than i was expecting.
releaser-of-cars: yay!

so i went to get my car from the lot while the other two waited outside since only the driver was allowed in. i got to my car and the keyless doesn't work. (there are some areas downtown that just doesn't agree with my key fob). so i had to unlock the door with my key.. *honk* *honk* *honk* (the honking starts off softly and gets louder and louder) i go to start my car.. the honking stops but the car wouldn't start. then my key wouldn't come out of the ignition. NOT AGAIN! (my key got stuck in the ignition back in april i think. in order to get it out each time, i had to violate the steering column to get to the manual release. luckily it was a warranty problem, so the dealer put in a new ignition mechanism thingy - how technical of me, i know.) i violate the steering column to get the key out. and then go to try to start the car again. nothing. my battery was okay cause all the lights were working. what could it be?! one of the guys who worked there noticed i didn't come out so he came in my direction. tried to start my car.. nothing. pressed the gas pedal while starting.. nothing. then looked to the right.. shifted from drive to park. et voilà. DUH REENA. like i said, i've never had a car towed before and wanted to be in my bed, so i was in no mood to be logical.

i took vidya and karen home - it was the least i could do considering they stayed with me during this entire ordeal. trying to get onto yonge was interesting. street signs kept telling me i wasn't allowed to turn north onto yonge. ugh. i could have ignored the street signs, but considering how the night has been going i was not going to risk having a meet and greet with a police officer. nuh uh, no way. not at 4am. somehow we ended up in the casa loma area. i HATE this area. it makes no sense to me and i always get lost.. ALWAYS. this was no different. driving.. driving.. all i see are endless houses, speed bumps, winding roads, and no escape. fifteen minutes later we managed to get ourselves into an area where streets make sense. i dropped vidya and karen off and i headed home. nothing exciting happened from that point on. or if something did, i never noticed. i just wanted my bed! by 5am i was home.. *sigh*

lessons learned:

1. i need to master the art of being a wingwoman. apparently this is more helpful for guy friends than girl friends though.


2. read ALL the signs


3. keep the number of the police stored on my phone. no, that's not 911


4. i should use my gps more often than not..