COVID has changed a lot of things.

One of those is how often I drive into the office. For someone falling on the introvert side of the scale, working in IT, the ability to work from home nearly 100% of the past few months has been amazing.

This morning, however, I was headed into the office to troubleshoot an issue on one of our physical servers. As I’ve always done, but what’s also become so much more important with COVID breaking any sense of routine I once had, I set out everything I could last night so it would be ready for me today.

Meals prepped… ✅
Coffee timer set… ✅
Clothes set out… ✅
Backpack packed… ✅
Work ID… ✅
Keys… ✅

I got to bed at a good time last night (my alarm was going to sound at 3:15 this morning). It seemed like everything was going well.

I slept in all the way to 3:30, got out of bed, got ready, put everything in the car, and headed to work.

So, part of COVID breaking routines is how infrequently I leave the house, and of those times, how infrequently I feel the need to wear a jacket. This morning, it’s right at freezing outside, and as I had barely exited my subdivision, I realized I’d forgotten my coat. The long walk across the plaza at work would not be fun, and I was running ridiculously early, so I turned around to get my coat.

I run inside, grab the coat I’ve not used but maybe once this season, and headed back out.

I had hardly exited by driveway when I felt for my work ID.

It wasn’t there…

My lanyard was hanging around my neck, but the ID was absent from it. It had been a little loose where it connects to the lanyard.

Alright… Turned the car around AGAIN, parked in the driveway AGAIN, and looked around on the ground.

Nothing…

I retraced any steps I could think to in order to find the ID, but without success.
Now I’m thinking…I can’t even get in the building, much less the datacenter without that. I’d have to be escorted in by campus police, and today’s task, while not unimportant, is not high-priority.

Guess I’m working from home today after all.

I’ll offer a dollar to the child that can find my ID somewhere.

It still kind of boggles my mind though… Where is it? It had been on my lanyard before I left, and the only places I’d been were in the car, in the downstairs part of the house, and the path between the two… So… Where is it?

Finally, I decided that God must want me to be home today. I don’t yet know the reason, and I may never, but I’ll be keeping watch today.