It could happen to anyone...

Last night started off pretty well. Claire cooked Charlie and I nachos and we sat around drinking ginger beer talking about intellectual issues like the fine lovers of fine love that we are and are known to be. I fell asleep on a big comfy leather lazyboy while Claire made a hat for Cup Day and Charlie played guitar. Haven't had much sleep this week. Good times. Dropped Charlie off and went home to find Peverel was all fine. Bachelor pad! No bachelorette to share it with at the moment, but at it enabled me to do those things blokes like to do when no-one's watching - read Womans Day. Nic called around 11 to ask for a ride back to his place. At the moment Nic has no car and lives close to hokitika. Agreed and we arranged so that he'd call when he was ready. I went back to slaying many orcs in Return of the King on xbox. Very pretty.

Am in the process of moving out and throwing stuff away. Rubbish day was today. It was important I put the rubbish out today.

Nic called at 11.30ish. Grebbed wallet and phone, groped pocket for keys, closed all windows and locked all doors to make sure no-one could get in when I was out and went outside, locking door behind me.

Bugger.

Those aren't keys. That's money. Damnit locked out. Quick, call Nic and explain.

Bugger.

Phone has no money.

Walked, ran and hobbled on my gammy ankle (I'm trying to save my good one) to brothers house, hoping he was still up and could lend me either his car or his keys to my car. I don't have keys to his, and even if I did they were locked inside my flat.... Lights on in Greg's flat - door open, flatmates in their rooms. Knock, open door. Nothing. Wander over to Greg's room. Light on, not home. Probably out drinking celebrating finishing exams and possibly uni. Bastard. Wander around flat some more. Knock and call out. Nothing. Flatmates in room turn their lights out. I could take anything I wanted. Damn morality. Give up finding Greg under couch and don't want to look in his room for keys. Leave flat grumbling.

Five options. Walk to Ben's place and hope he's home. Walk to Charlie's place and sleep on the couch. Walk to Varsity and get security to let me into office so that I could do work and sleep on floor. Walk along Riccarton Road, hope Nic calls and share taxi with him to his place. Or walk the streets and wind up on the otherside of town at Claire's pad so I can grab the one spare key in the morning.

Ankle saw and swollen. I'm a soft pansy. Walk toward Ben's place. Change mind. Walk toward uni. Change mind. Walkd toward town and Nic. Get text at 12.05 asking if I was still alive. Sweet but not very practical. Keep walking. Get phone call from Nic when I got to Riccarton mall asking whether I was still alive. Much more practical. Laughs at me (rightly so). Plan formulated - Nic will get Tim to get him and get me. Start to walk back to flat. Turn into Peverel.

Oh bugger.

Fire.

Flat on street is going up in flames. Looks like wall and kitchen. Call 111. Never done this before. Answer very quickly and I'm put through to fire. Inform dude of what's going on, where it is, etc. He tells me to try and make myself and the fire known to residents. Hobble toward blaze. Fire scares the hell out of me (although in small doses it's pretty). Lights on in house. Door open. Students in backyard surrounding very large bonfire made up of what look like old palalates a couple of meters from wall. Munters. Call 111 and get put through to fire again. Get same guy. Tell him what's going on and apologise. No worries, mate, he says. The fire engines will still come because there shouldn't be anything like that at this time of night. Fair enough. Two fire engine arrive 15 minutes after I first call 111. Impressed. One goes. The other uses hose to put out fire. Cool. Takes seven minutes to arrive, reverse, put fire out, give warning etc to residents (I imagine) and leave. Impressed. Good work fire department.

Nic and Tim arrive after fire engines leave, missing out on the coolness of big red fire trucks. Drop Nic off in Wigram and back to Tim's. Watch him play World of Warcraft. He's modelled his character on himself. Tusks really accentuate his eyes. Fall asleep on couch. Laughed at in morning by flatmates including one I haven't met yet. They leave. Bobby (cat) laughs and molests me.

Now have to get in touch with Claire at the races to get key back to flat to organise the rubbish that won't be put out today.

Random bloody night.

Moral of the story: Ben, Charlie, get yourself a car and a license.