Pluggers by Rick McKee for March 31, 2014

oldest trick in the book

I keep a spare key in my billfold. Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

My spare key is in the wallet.

When I was allowed to drive, I only ever locked my keys in the car once. Fortunately someone with the same model car came to my aid and opened the door using HIS keys!

I once locked my keys in my car in a commuter parking lot. I gave a great deal of amusement to the OPP car taking a break in the lot when I looked inside, cursed a little in French, opened the hatchback (lock didn’t work) and crawled into the car. They were checking for unlocked doors and were wondering how this problem would be resolved.

Plus the coat hanger doubles as a battery jumper……touch the metal bumpers to each other and lay the coat hanger across the positive terminals.

BTW I have extras keys hidden up under my truck frame. That way, if I find myself with no pants…

Wow, this is a first: A plugger stealing cars.

…and that’s why G-d invented Triple A!

I keep several copies of my car’s key on several keyrings.Helped out a couple of times when my man borrowed the car and locked the key inside of his copy.

If you hook a metal washer on the end of the wire, it willgrab the knobless knob and lift it!

My car hasn’t had locks that work in years. Just swivel the vent window and reach in for the handle. Outside handles don’t work, but if you don’t know that, you think it’s locked.

All well and good, until the cops comes along and you have splaining to do.

Newer cars are easy to unlock. A wedge pushed down between roof and door, a long skinny wire or stick to reach inside (fishing rod works in a pinch) and you just push the power lock button. Voila! Works great if you’ve locked your keys inside in a thunderstorm… Driving newer cars away without a key is not so easy, especially those new enough to have locking ignitions.

Ages ago I locked the keys inside my car on a college campus. As students were allowed to park only in Outer Bumphuk, I had to cross three rivers and a road that fed a hospital emergency room to get someone in the nearest campus building to call the Kampus Keystone Kops to come and open the door. 20 minutes later, an officer comes alongside and gets out with a coat hanger. Incredulous, I asked him, “Don’t you guys have one of those ‘Slim Jim’ tools you can use to just go down inside the window!?” Still working the hanger, he replied, “We’re the good guys!”Cops in this part of the world used to carry break-in tools; perhaps they’re useful in their line of work if they need to access a perpmobile. But they’ll rarely use them on a civilian car unless you locked a kid inside: Too many liability issues.