By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
AUG. 31, 2021 | These modern marvels of technology can sometimes bite you when you least expect it.
The key fob of some of today’s automobiles allows keyless entry and push-button starting. But twice last week, it bit me.
Needing to leave home for an appointment, when I got to the car, the door wouldn’t open. I didn’t have my key fob in my pocket. Earlier in the day, I had driven the car home, so the key fob should have been with me, but wasn’t. I couldn’t find it anywhere in the house.
My wife has a second fob, so I borrowed hers…..and the SUV’s locked door would not open. Apparently, this fob battery was dead. However, with the push of a link on the fob, you can remove a key from it, and use this to unlock the door. Once unlocking, and opening the door, immediately the horn started honking, like this was an unauthorized entry. Even when I shut the door, the beeping continued, then after a couple of minutes, it stopped. Meanwhile, the engine would not start since the key fob battery was kaput. Dumb me, I tried using the key to open the door again not once, but twice, and each time more beeping, which finally stopped. Eventually my wife found in the car manual a way to use the fob to touch the starter button, which cranked the engine, and the horn stopped blowing. Whew!
After my outing to the store, and returning home, guess what I found in my desk chair. Yep, my key fob. It had been there all along, and I had overlooked it while sitting in that same chair looking for it.
The second bite from the key fob came a couple of days later. On a trip to Tallahassee, we stopped for a snack at a Chick-fil-A, which we found had no inside service, and about 20 cars in line to order.
There was a Publix adjacent, so I went there. Before leaving the car, my wife asked for me to roll down the two front windows for air, while I shopped. We were parked about 10 spaces from Publix, and just before I entered, I felt a raindrop on me, though I had not noticed any clouds.
I was about three-four minutes in the large store to buy the snack, but as I started out the door, what? It was raining, a real downpour with sheets of water. Then I realized that my wife must be getting drenched with the windows down, and here I was 10 cars away with the key fob. Then I got lucky. I noticed hanging near the entrance knee length clear plastic raincoats for the staff to use, with yellow plastic hoodies. I borrowed one and started with my purchase for the car.
And guess what? By the time I got to the car, the rain had almost stopped. And yes, inside my wife was wet all over from the blowing-in rain. Luckily, she found a towel in the car and she was wiping the area down, soaking up the rain, and drying herself. Next job was to drive to the Publix entrance to return the raincoat.
So that’s why on that hot afternoon we were running the heater for a while, to help dry things off. And finally eating a well-earned snack.
Those modern marvels, such as the key fobs, sometimes play “Gotcha” with you!
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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