One random thing from San Jose

Here’s a random thing that happened to me at KM World. I parked my rental car behind the Hotel St. Claire Tuesday night. I remember where I parked it because I noted to myself it was the exact same spot I had Monday night–a pull-through right next to a light post.

As I was walking to the lot Thursday morning after checking out of the hotel I saw a giant crane in the lot. They were working on the building next to the hotel. As I got closer I noticed that as an apparent safety precaution they had used yellow tape to cordon off a huge section of the lot surrounding the crane including the spot where my rental car was no longer parked. My car was now parked 30 feet away from its original spot, apparently unmolested.

“That’s curious,” I thought, “Who moved my car and how did they do it?” I had not given them the keys and there were no signs of it being dragged or pushed.

So I queried the attendant, to which he responded, “Maybe you left us the keys.”

“Left you the keys? I’m in the car. I have the keys. I didn’t leave you the keys.”

“Maybe you forgot where you parked it,” he proposed.

“I don’t think so, pal.” Was he toying with me or did he really not know?

People who know me will say the forgot-where-you-parked-it theory is the most likely. I’m emphatic, though. In addition to the special note I made about how lucky I was to get the same spot, the large SUV was now backed against a brick wall with little room to spare. Sorry, but I don’t have the skills to back an unfamiliar, borrowed, beast of a vehicle into a spot two inches from a solid wall.

The only possible explanation is that the crew was ready to work and they needed the space. They must have used their giant crane to rearrange the lot. It seems outlandish but I can find no other explanation. If anyone was at the conference and saw a Pontiac Montana flying through the air sometime between Tuesday night and Thursday morning I’d love to know for sure.

If it hadn’t have been a rental I would have started questioning the work crew but there seemed to be no harm done so I paid my fee, shook my head, and drove off.