While in Cape Cod last weekend, I had an interesting car experience. When I went out to the Benchwarmer to drive the group to get ice cream, I reached into my pocket and found that my key had snapped in two.

This was not good.

I immediately got on the phone and called up a handful of mechanically savvy persons: My Dad, James, Galecki, and Chad to be specific. The general consensus was “get to a key copying place, and see if they can save you.”

Unfortunately, this delayed my return back to CT, so I made sure to call Jesse and Tony to make them aware of scheduling changes*. But, as long as I could get myself a functioning car, I wasn’t going to complain.

Sure enough, when I got to Eastman’s Hardware store in Falmouth, Janice over in the key department said she’d be up to the challenge. She clamped the two key pieces together and used a follower to carve out a new key. She did a darn good job. The new key started the car on its first attempt and I was able to get back to CT with a little extra time to spare. Total cost? $2.00

So, if you ever find yourself in a similar scenario… fear not. Your solution is just a hardware store away.

*special props to Tony for offering to drive from the HoR to Cape Cod (3.5-4 hrs) to deliver me a new key