moment of terror

[Stavia]

its actually funny but was terrifying at the time:
running backwards and forwards between two work sites yesterday. insane hours (like 7am to 10pm). server migration which is going very badly (our system talks to about 20 different government departments and the sector is hopelessly fragmented and that's a downside of a national health system - legacy stuff) plus f-ing useless locum so i'm doing two people's work.
stopped off at grocer to get hot chocolate cos didn't have time to eat (organic milk, organic chocolate, minimal sugar, I promise its ok) . very very sunny and had sunglasses on. parked my little red Toyota corolla. locked it with clicking key thingy. went into store. came out. pressed key thingy to unlock. got into little red Toyota corolla.
COULDNT FIND PLACE TO PUT KEY INTO ON STEERING WHEEL THINGY
looked for keyhole. not there. wondered if steering column had turned around and I'd locked wheels. nope. panicked. Getting AD. First sign. Early onset, I'm only 54. Book my dementia ward bed right now. Or do I suicide.

Then realised it wasn't my corolla. was a slightly newer model with keyless key thingy. identical inside but sans my little nodding kiwi.
I'm still shaky.

[Tincup]

Stavia, chalk it up to stress. Stress distracts us all. We don't pay attention when we're stressed. It is normal, you are normal, well, sort of...

[KatieS]

Work overload on top of with those tech hitches, just accentuates "our sensitivity" now. Experiences before knowing, I just disregarded and counted the days until my vacation. Stavia, I glad you can post the story and laugh now.

[Julie G]

(((Stavia))) The knowledge of our E4 status encourages dramatization of our mistakes. I so feel you, my friend. XO

[marthaNH]

Thank you for posting the story, it is truly funny and poignant at the same time.

[Teezer]

The other driver must not have locked his/her car.

According to Toyota:

Smart keys are unique to each Toyota vehicle that they are programmed to unlock. A Toyota smart key could not unlock another Toyota vehicle, as the keys are unique to each vehicle, just like standard keys.

Back in the 60's, a friend had a Chevy with a key pattern that was a duplicate of another friend's key for his Chevy. It was rumored at the time that Chevy actually had less that 100 key patterns.

Lest you think this was only a GM problem, I bought a new Honda ST1100 (a touring motorcycle) back in 1991. My wife liked it so much, we bought her one in 1992. The ignition keys were the same (but they didn't match anyone else's ST1100). This was convenient for us, but it just shows that you can only cut so many patterns in a key before you start getting duplicates.

I'm guessing the Toyota has a lot more frequency patterns than key patterns, but they're not infinite.

[SusanJ]

About a year ago I walked up to my Honda CRV and clicked the key, and nothing happened. Click, grumble, click, grumble. What the hey?!? Then I finally looked up and realized that my CRV was one row over. Went slinking away and quickly looked around to see who witnessed that event. I live in a small town after all...

(((Stavia)))

[pgf54]

I have in the past lost my car when busy with a lot on my mind i have jumped out at a shopping centre , parked and on returning had no idea where i had left the car. After walking around looking for a long while i bumped into a an elderly lady who retorted "have you lost yours too dear? "
I have since taught myself to make a mental note of my exact parking position before leaving the car.