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Locked Out

Isn’t Murphy’s Law simply amazing?

When things can go wrong, it will go wrong and it just had to happen on my trip to Kabul. My flight to Dubai was scheduled at 1.00 am, so I decided to finish work early and head home. I gather I could catch couple of hours of sleep or watch some movies before heading to the airport. My son was of course happy to see me back from office early.

At about 6.30 in the afternoon, as I was packing my luggage (decided to be very light this time, learned from my Thai experience), I noticed the belt buckle was cracked. In other words, it cannot be used and I need to buy a new one. Not a big problem as I had plenty of time. We went to Jusco and leisurely walked around to buy a new belt and have some snacks as well. Plenty of time I keep saying to myself.

By 9.00 pm, I had finished packing and was about to watch TV when I realized I could not close the bag locks. I had forgotten the combination number for the locks and damn, time was running. I did some “yoga” thinking and tried a number (the usual that I use for locks) and it worked. I carried the luggage, completely locked with my clothes and other items.

Just then, my wife showed a T-shirt and asked whether I am taking this as well. Since I had the space (having about 15 kg compared to 29 kg on my previous trip), I said why not. I pressed the combination number and press the lever to unlock the bag – to my shock, nothing happened.

It was 9.30 pm by the time I tried several “other” combinations – unsuccessfully. I had 2 choices then – continue to try the combinations or break the lock (which means I need to get a new bag). Not wasting time, I decided to do this – buy a new bag, transfer the clothes and other items from the old bag to the car whilst I am on the way to KLIA. I targeted to be on the road to KLIA by 10.30 pm (I gather it will take about one hour to travel, leaving me about 1.5 hours before departure).

Thankfully the quick purchase of the luggage bag was “quick” and we managed to hit the highway by 10.20 pm. While I was driving, my wife was “transporting” my clothes and other items to the new bag and we made it in time – at about 10.55 pm at the airport. The luggage problem was a close call but it was not a show stopper.

I had a quick snack in KLIA, waiting for my 7 hours flight to Dubai and 3 hours flight to Kabul.

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