The best laid plans..

[Huss]

I keep a lot of gear in air tight boxes with de-humidifiers. And when I travel, I put padlocks on the boxes just so any pet sitter isn't tempted to touch and play. Just got back from a project in Europe. And could not find the keys to the padlocks! I am completely blanking at the moment and know that about 10 seconds after I cut the locks, I'll find the keys...
It's not a big deal at the moment, as I have the equipment that I travelled with butt still.

Oh well.
😱

 

[Rayt]

I keep my film stash in a commercial freezer in my mother's house. It is the type of freezer where a store might display their popsicles. I notice people maybe visitors would mess with it making a mess of my carefully stacked films of all formats. I wonder if they were looking for severed body parts or something. I would have buried or eaten those long ago 🙂 Anyway I decided to lock up the cabinet but then couldn't find the key for a long time so had to buy fresh film even though I had enough for years.

 

[Huss]

The film is in the fridge or freezer. I figured it would be too boring for someone to play with. But the cameras are pretty and have knobs, levers and buttons!

 

[farlymac]

Oh, I've been hiding keys for years, only to come across them later and lumping them in with all the rest until I can no longer remember what they go to, or where I put them. I figure it's the result of having too much stuff.

PF

 

[Beemermark]

I was looking for a padlock the other day. Found maybe a dozen. Also found over a dozen keys. None match -🙁

 

[PKR]

The film is in the fridge or freezer. I figured it would be too boring for someone to play with. But the cameras are pretty and have knobs, levers and buttons!

If your serious about hiding your keys (after you find them) put them in a fresh qt. of motor oil or freeze them in some unappetizing food item where they won't be seen. Best is a hidden cubby in the kitchen cabinet work. Magnets hold the wood panel in place. This is best done when ordering new custom cabinets, from a trusted cabinet maker. Lots of good hiding places in unused spaces in cabinet work.

 

[BillBingham2]

Bring them to a local locksmith. They can pick them. Then go home and look for the keys again. Not sure how many you have but it should be pretty reasonable.

Perhaps the keys are in one of the cases? Did you call the last place you stayed to see if they were left?

B2 (;->

 

[Big Ursus]

Decades ago, I had a secretary who showed me a gizmo I've wished I'd bought ever since I saw it. It was a key fob, and when she pressed it, her keys would buzz at her!

Anyone here know anything about devices like that?

 

[BillBingham2]

I had one, there's a similar thing for keys from a smart phone. Dang that was a long time ago.

B2 (;->

 

[Huss]

Gave up and bust off the locks. The boxes are still totally useable as the bit where they locked extended past the air seals.
But still, that was embarrassing!

 

[Timmyjoe]

I think of these as "senior moments". For years I've been hiding my cameras when I'm away, thinking that thieves will never look in the places I hide them. In August, got back from Florida and for the life of me I couldn't remember where I hid one of the cameras. Totally blank. Didn't find it till weeks later.

 

[Huss]

I think of these as "senior moments". For years I've been hiding my cameras when I'm away, thinking that thieves will never look in the places I hide them. In August, got back from Florida and for the life of me I couldn't remember where I hid one of the cameras. Totally blank. Didn't find it till weeks later.

Were my keys next to it?

😀

 

[Timmyjoe]

Quick key story, when my kids were toddlers, unbeknownst to me, they took the only set of keys I had for my truck and dropped them down inside the grate of our fireplace. Looked for those keys for days and finally had to have Ford make a new set, massive hassle. Years later, when I was repairing the fireplace, I found them at the bottom, covered in ash. Truck was long since sold. Still have those keys though, keepsake from when the kids were little.

 

[benlees]

Putting things in a "safe place" is a running joke in our family.

 

[hlockwood]

I keep a lot of gear in air tight boxes with de-humidifiers. And when I travel, I put padlocks on the boxes just so any pet sitter isn't tempted to touch and play. Just got back from a project in Europe. And could not find the keys to the padlocks! I am completely blanking at the moment and know that about 10 seconds after I cut the locks, I'll find the keys...
It's not a big deal at the moment, as I have the equipment that I travelled with butt still.

Oh well.
😱

How can you travel with a still butt?

(Sorry, I couldn't pass it up.)

 

[ChrisPlatt]

I just moved. I have many small boxes with camera gear, only partially labelled.
Each one I open is a bit of a surprise. I guess that means I have too much gear.

Chris

 

[robert blu]

Quick key story, when my kids were toddlers, unbeknownst to me, they took the only set of keys I had for my truck and dropped them down inside the grate of our fireplace. Looked for those keys for days and finally had to have Ford make a new set, massive hassle. Years later, when I was repairing the fireplace, I found them at the bottom, covered in ash. Truck was long since sold. Still have those keys though, keepsake from when the kids were little.

Lovely family story!
robert

 

[davidnewtonguitars]

We have hundreds of keys in a drawer by the back door. They don't fit anything any more. My wife doesn't want to throw them away, they might fit something one day.

 

[besk]

Just a week ago I put a padlock on a storage room in my barn and put the key (my only key) with a big FOB in a easy place to find in another area of the barn. My brother the next day took the fob off - saying it was too visible.

Yesterday, got the key & opened the storage room but when I went to lock it realized that I had already lost the key - which had no fob of course.

Thank goodness I had not locked the building - so took the lock with me - all the while grumbling about my brother.

 

[ChrisPlatt]

I service and maintain various machines that sort mail for USPS.

Due to the nature of machine processing solid objects are often ejected from a standard letter envelope.
A surprising number of our customers don't realize you're not supposed to mail keys in a letter envelope.

Every day I find multiple sets of keys in the machines, and turn them in.
Of course there's no way to reunite them with the envelopes they were mailed in.
Those letters - what's left of them - are sent on to wherever they're addressed, sans contents.

So daily I collect the keys. And for every set I know there is a story...

Chris