Lost in Plain Sight
This is a remotely interesting story if it wasn’t so sad you have to laugh and be happy.
A Monday morning after a productive weekend. Lots of runs with the truck getting mulch spread over the flower beds and the long list of items to be completed now that the Spring hunting seasons have concluded. At one time I was 0 for 3 states in the Turkey hunting game. But that is another story.
The last time I had a smile on my face for this reason was one year after COVID and I grabbed my waders to pack them for some blind work. That memory raced through my mind as I saw it.
Lets talk remotes , not TV remotes,not decorative lighting remotes but Pick up truck remotes. The little device that lets you do all sorts of fun stuff. Lock your car, start your car, unlock your car, help you find your car, scare away intruders or just mess with your friends when they walk by your truck. I think it is a cool little item if it wasn’t so stealthy.
Everyone knows you need 2 of them. One for everyday use and one for emergency use when it goes dead or sneaks off and hides somewhere.
I am remotely challenged in many ways. But this particular challenge haunts me and keeps me on edge. You see I have an extraordinary talent of losing my extra remote. Specifically annoying is when you are hunting and multiple people use your truck as a home base.
I would tell you where I hide the extra remote for hunting purposes but I cannot remember. What it really gets interesting is when I cannot remember where I put the primary remote. That is a challenge.
The occassions the extra remote becomes the primary remote is numerous and dangerous and usually leads to being a one remote family for a bit. A long bit is more accurate.
The second longest streak of being a single remote family was back in Covid and I can blame covid for this. I was pretty sick “ See the last Mallard” for details.
I cleverly hid the extra remote in my super secret spot and when I finally arrived at the truck I grabbed it and headed home. The primary remote hid nicely in my wader pocket for a solid 9 months until I grabbed my waders to work on a blind on a late summer day.
Nine months of terror wondering if I would lose my remote in the woods or if I would remember to hide the remote in the correct spot. This gets exponentially terrifying when the many times I hunt we are miles, multiple miles, from the next farm house or occupied residence that could give us a ride. The cell phone services will open your car but I have not found one that will let you start and drive your vehicle. Maybe I am wrong and if so it would have saved some worry. But the terror was real and for nine months I struggled with just one remote and granted it was NOT a full hunting season. Just one turkey season.
After the hunting season was completed I enjoyed 2 years of terror free bliss with two remotes working perfectly. Then the duck hunting season of 2022 wrapped up. The deer hunting and pheasant hunting seasons were now in full swing. I went to start the truck no remote. I grabbed the extra remote still hidden in its special spot just for this issue. It was the second week in October 2022. It made the remainder of the years hunting seasons treacherous with just one remote but we survived. I called the lodge to see if anyone turned in a remote. No luck.
The 2023 season arrived and I was still a single remote parent. 2023 hunting seasons had its own issues but the remote probably can be an underlying issue to my heart condition that sidelined me for a majority of that season. There is another story in the archives on the 2023 hunt see “Duck Hunting saved my Life”.
2024 rolls through no remote. 2025 rolls through no remote no incidents, still an uneasy feeling every time I leave my vehicle, but I am maturing and learning to live without.
Spring turkey season of 2026 concluded and I was still maturing with just one remote.
I am a big boy now, that was until June 8 2026. I went to the shed to go to work jumped in my truck realizing I forgot the letter I needed on my desk in my home office. I remember putting that letter on my deskpad near the pencil sharpener. Yes, I like pencils even though I make my living in ink. I find pencils a useful tool because it is erasable. I think the most used key on my keyboard is the backspace key. So until I am at a point where I can write what I want perfectly on the first try, a pencil will be a tool my tool box.
I walked into office stood in front of my desk looking for the letter in a hurry. First glance no letter, but it was there. I had to slow down and look.
Slowing down I took a long look at the electric pencil sharpener. I really long look. Did I feel bad because all my pencils were dull? (People tell me that a lot—should I be offended?) No something was off, I was in slow down and look mode and there it was sitting on top of the sharpener in plain sight. Perfectly lined up, not sticking out, just part of the appliance, while kind of once you see it you know it does not belong. Like finding Where is Waldo once you see him that little bugger jumps off the page.
I could not believe it. I reached for it and grabbed it. It was real.
A real remote. I was in disbelief. Probably Sheila’s I thought. I ran downstairs to bother Sheila as she was working out on the treadmill and asked her “where do you keep your extra remote?” She said “on a hook inside the cabinet.” I ran upstairs(That was my effort of working out) and opened the cabinet and yes her remote was there and it looked different than the remote I had for my truck. I wanted to make sure this was not some Chevrolet mind trick so I took the remote I found to her car and pressed a button no response! Cool. My second effort at exercise that morning was a brisk walk to my truck pressed the button no response NOT COOL. BUMMER. Is this an old remote from trucks gone by?
I jumped in my truck and headed to Cernohous Chevrolet in Prescott they would have the answer. I asked Cole and told him I think this remote has not been used in a few years and it is not responding to my truck. He said lets go to parts and get a $5.00 battery. That is the cheapest and easiest fix.
I walked professionally to the part desk and in less than 30 seconds and the parts manager had the battery installed. The parts manager who did not want his name shared for privacy reasons. (He did not want to be overrun by old gray haired guys who lost their remotes to be bugging him. They run a tight ship at Cernohous Chevrolet and he is a good friend and good guy so I honored his request.) This was real now if it is the remote for my truck that would be very exciting. If not I have a new fully charged remote for a truck I owned 6 years ago.
I walked a few steps into the showroom and debated about pushing the button in front of anyone. I was concerned someone would see me me cry if it did not work. Not being a patient man I pushed by the $ 115,000 Corvette and tried to stay out of sight and gently pushed the unlock button.
The taillights on the truck blinked back at me! IT WORKED. I now have 2 remotes, for awhile anyway. For almost 4 years the remote sat hidden in plain sight. Who put it there or how it got there no one knows. But I don’t care. I have two remotes now!
My best guess is I left it in some hunting stuff that got washed and pulled out and put on my desk to get back in my truck. I put it on the sharpener because it was in the way and it stayed out of my way for almost 4 years.
Sometimes it is the little victories in life that make you smile. Not as big as Grandkids smiles or family smiles or friend smiles but an extra unexpected smile is always welcome. Lost in plain sight for almost 4 years.