What do you want for Christmas? -a tow rope.

How could I live for so long without a tow rope? You may think it is good only to get out of snowbanks, but today I used mine to get out of... the covered parking of the Auchan supermarket. When I came out of Auchan with my shooping cart loaded with nice food for the holidays, for some obscure reason, all the cars in the parking lot of Auchan had their remote alarm disabled. People were out of their cars, helpless...It looked very much like a scene in a super-hero movie where the bad guy comes up with a new weapon that disables all electonic devices.
What sucked is that I had left my big winter jacket in my car because it is too cumbersome and too hot to wear in the supermarket, and I could not open my car with my remote. So I was freezing my butt. I tried to use my manual key, but for a reason that is too long to explain here, I had to pour hot tea on the keyhole the day before, which then froze, so there was no way I could open my car. So I went back to Auchan to get de-icer, which allowed me to open my door. But that was only half the work, because my alarm prevented me from starting the car. A nice couple helped me by towing me with my towing rope, out of the covered parking lot to a safe radio-wave free zone where I could start my car. Whoever you are, nice people, thanks to both of you for helping me out tonight.
So in the end, that was a good reminder that this place is always full of surprises. Lesson learned? don't stop the engine when you go shopping...