Long time readers will know I am a total klutz. I come by it honestly, Sagitarian's are known in the zodiac to bit a bit on the clumsy side. Let's put clumsy and klutzy into the same category and add ditzy to the mix.

The temperatures have been hovering in the low 20's earlier this week and mid-teens later in the week. So I've been plugging my truck in. It isn't entirely necessary at these temps, but why take chances.

My routine is to unlock the drivers door and put my bag, purse, etc into the truck, then start the truck. I turn off the radio, turn off the fans and close but not lock the drivers door. I grab my snow brush from the back of the truck and begin to clear the snow off the truck starting with the back window on the drivers side. As I walk across the front of the truck I make sure the vents up front are clear of snow and I unplug the truck. The I finish off the passenger side and finally the tailgate. I like to leave some of the snow on the license plate, not enough to totally cover it, but enough that if I do happen to go through a light they won't be able to make out the letters and numbers. Then I toss the brush back into the back of the truck and climb in...off to work I go.

The other morning I was following my routine and as I started the truck realized I had accidentally left the wipers on the night before. The wipers went over once and cleared off all the snow...so I decided I didn't need to brush off the rest of the snow and closed the door. I went to work and enjoyed the rest of the day.

When I arrived home that evening I went to plug in the truck and saw that my cord was missing. I immediately left out a few choice words assuming someone had stolen it. But why my cord I thought? It is just a regular run of the mill extension cord, it doesn't even have a light on it. Why would someone steal it? I took a look at the cord sticking out of the front of the truck and noticed that it was slightly bent. Hmmm, did someone steal the cord during the night? And in their haste to snatch it bent one of the prongs? I sighed and went into the house. It was only scheduled to be around -15 so I figured I was ok.

The next morning I had one of those moments. One of those moments when the light inside your head goes off and the decision is made or the problem solved or something else along those lines. It didn't creep into my head, the image popped into my head. I had broken my routine and with a broken routine came the error. I had forgotten to unplug the cord the morning before. I don't recall seeing anything, I didn't feel the tug when I pulled out of my parking spot and I didn't feel or hear anything when the cord broke free of the truck.

It must have been quite a sight. My truck driving down the road and about 25 feet of cord following behind. Oops. I guess I was lucky as it could have caused some damage. The only damage is a hit to my pride and the cost of another cord--this one has a light on it. Oooh, fancy.