My car radio nightmare.....

I thought I would share this funny personal story with you, that has a weird connection with my novels;

A couple of months or so ago, I finished writing 'Intrepid - The Two Storms', the second novel in my four-book series. Amongst other challenges, my protagonist Commander Lance Tucker has just twelve minutes to solve a riddle and obtain a four-figure code, or face certain death.

Just after the novel was released, I took my Rover 75 Classic to the garage for its British M.O.T. test. During the test, they disconnected the battery for safety reasons, thereby cutting power to the car radio. To hear the radio again, I had to input a four-figure code - but have lost the piece of paper the code is written on.

I'm currently trying to remember the code, and have had many attempts at inputting it. I know the code has a 4 and a 1 in it, but can't remember the position of these figures, or which way round they were.

Isn't it weird that I now face the same challenge as my protagonist? No riddle to solve, of course, or certain death outcome, and I have a lot more than twelve minutes to find the right code....