The Nice People Thread, No.16: A Universe of Niceness.

PasturesNew

Still no key. This is just beyond daft.

The key unlocks the exterior mailbox... I decide to check for mail, I get the key (which is attached to a very identifiable strip of bright green stuff) ... I unlock the box, look, remove any mail, lock the box, walk back into the house, put the key back where it should be, or toss it on the front door mat if I'm going to be going back inside in 2-3 minutes. When I step inside 2-3 minutes later it goes where it belongs.

If I ever saw it anywhere else I'd automatically put it where it belongs because, it's important.... If I weren't able to immediately put it back on its hook I'd kick/toss it into the middle of the room so I didn't forget ... and it'd be done within 10 minutes.

But it's nowhere.

I've not ripped the place apart to look for it, but I have been looking on/off a lot of times today, sorting, lifting, checking things it could be in, under, behind.... nothing. I even checked the fridge! (just in case I've got dementia and don't know it) ....

It's just not here. Annoying thing is that it had two keys, which I'd kept together as I saw no point in separating them as the key never goes out with me. It never leaves the house, it has no need to. So I've lost them both. I'll just have to keep looking... and looking. It'll turn up, but where....

It's theoretically impossible to have lost this key, it's used so rarely, it has a hook, it's well marked with the green tag. It'd be "extra work" to have not put it on its hook!

PasturesNew

Well that's handy... just found all the pegs I'd lost.

That's the trouble when you don't have "a space for everything and everything in its place" you end up compromising and moving things around, and stacking them, depending on what you're currently trying to get out/use/put away or get out of sight.

But pegs don't get me into the mailbox, so still looking.

Getting a bit mad/desperate now - even checked my jacket and dressing gown pockets, even though I've never been there in my dressing gown and I haven't used that jacket for 5-6 weeks and the key's only missing since Thu/Fri.

PasturesNew

I'm going to order some more ... if they're cheap enough (£3-4).... that'll make them turn up!

ivyleaf

How infuriating, Pastures! I hope it turns up pronto.

silvercar

PN, for future reference, you can buy this little gadget so you never lose your keys again.

PasturesNew

silvercar wrote: »

PN, for future reference, you can buy this little gadget so you never lose your keys again.

It doesn't work like that... in the pecking order of keys' importance, the mailbox wouldn't get in the top 5. And where's the phone? Is it charged up? ....

I can buy new keys for about £3-4.

ivyleaf

I thought the mailbox key would have been probably the third most important after the house keys and the car key, then remembered you don't like opening mail.

PasturesNew

ivyleaf wrote: »

I thought the mailbox key would have been probably the third most important after the house keys and the car key, then remembered you don't like opening mail.

House key is first. If you can get in your house you can sort things out in comfort.
Car key is 2nd, if you're out and lose it, then it's a pain, but if you still have the house key then at least you can get inside and ponder your options.

I've got somebody else's keys too ... which I use 3-4x a year, but they're also a "panic backup" in case they lose theirs.

So that's 3. The shed keys are pretty important too as the lawnmower's in there and the rotary clothes dryer.

I guess the mail box would be 5th. Worst case scenario with that is you can knock it off the wall with a club hammer, smash it open ... buy another and hire a little man to fix the new one to the wall.
I don't get much mail, so I do tend to only check 2x a week.

This is daft now... where IS it ... I'm in the realms of "there's no way it could ever be here for XYZ reasons". I've removed all the cushions from the sofa and groped around and vacuumed at the back/sides. I've checked under the sofa.

I've removed all the items from the recycling bin, item by item, to check.

I've straightened two small rugs that never move and checked behind/under them.

I've even checked the fridge again. I haven't checked the freezer ... yet.

I've now touched/lifted/moved almost every individual item in this room, lifting/shaking/looking/checking, in case it's got caught up. The reason I attach ribbons and string etc to keys is so I don't lose them, so they're easier to spot than what'd have been a tiny couple of keys able to slip in/under anything.

I cut the grass.... all of it .... it needed doing, but that way I could check/inspect every inch in case I'd dropped it when I thought I had hold of it/similar.

I've phoned the suppliers (bought 2 years ago). She said they have stopped selling them because they can't get keys; they're from China and she said even if it were achievable, it'd take about 12 weeks and cost about £50 to get the appropriate response.

I didn't buy it because it was "cheap" - I bought it based on size as a lot of these things are ornamental and wouldn't take, say, a C4 HMRC envelope, so I was looking for "large" so I could receive HMRC mail and the postie would be able to easily get it in there. Many postboxes you see are small and large letters are simply left hanging out - which is no good if you do go away for 1-4 days or so at all!

PasturesNew

Just checked/cleared everything in the downstairs loo (which is next to the door, so possible I'd done the mail, then gone in there and forgot to put the key down, so put it down in there) .... nothing. At least I've now cleaned that ... as that's one way of making sure you've checked every inch of a space.

Double checked the jacket pockets/dressing gown pockets even though I've not had those on since weeks before the key became lost. Not sure if I last used it Wed or Thu last week ... probably Thu. Noticed it missing Saturday when I went to use it before I went out for the day in case there was anything lurking from the day before.

Went through the paracetamol/plasters box, which hasn't been opened for over a month... not there.

chris_m

PasturesNew wrote: »

Not sure if I last used it Wed or Thu last week ... probably Thu. Noticed it missing Saturday when I went to use it before I went out for the day in case there was anything lurking from the day before.

Daft question - you have checked that it's not still in the mailbox lock, haven't you?