"I screamed don't tell me I put them in the wrong car." It was the second day in a row of bad luck. "I got laid off the day before, replacing the gifts won't be easy," Gipson said.

Pretty easy to get your head in the wrong place after some bad news like that. Hope someone returns it.

Is it that common that your key would work in someone else's car?

I do hope that she gets the gifts back so her kids will have a nice Christmas.

Bathia_Mapes: Is it that common that your key would work in someone else's car?

Actually yes. I remember (no citation, I'm not googlewaring it) that most car companies use only a dozen or less unique keys for some models of popular cars--so there quite a bit of overlap for companies and popular cars.

Okay...Citation. Link (new window)

optikeye: Bathia_Mapes: Is it that common that your key would work in someone else's car?

Actually yes. I remember (no citation, I'm not googlewaring it) that most car companies use only a dozen or less unique keys for some models of popular cars--so there quite a bit of overlap for companies and popular cars.

Okay...Citation. Link (new window)

That's damned scary.

"I got laid off the day before, replacing the gifts won't be easy," Gipson said.

OK - I know you have kids and it's Christmas and all... but you did not need to buy $700 worth of crap. Seriously - who goes out and spends like crazy the day after they get laid off?


Bathia_Mapes: optikeye: Bathia_Mapes: Is it that common that your key would work in someone else's car?

Actually yes. I remember (no citation, I'm not googlewaring it) that most car companies use only a dozen or less unique keys for some models of popular cars--so there quite a bit of overlap for companies and popular cars.

Okay...Citation. Link (new window)

That's damned scary.

Indeed.

Bathia_Mapes: That's damned scary.

From what I understand it's common on doors and trunk for cars of the same make/model.
The ignition has the RFID chip on the fob which has far more codes in the mix.

Bathia_Mapes: Is it that common that your key would work in someone else's car?

I do hope that she gets the gifts back so her kids will have a nice Christmas.

.....
That happened to me once (not losing property, but using a key on the wrong car).

Yes, it was scary. Now I never even put valuables in the trunk.

Bathia_Mapes: Is it that common that your key would work in someone else's car?

I do hope that she gets the gifts back so her kids will have a nice Christmas.

I've seen it happen.

Twice.

/ Third if you count house keys, one to mine and one to my best friends. Dude seriously thought I stole and copied his keys.

bradley547: I had to replace a lock on my Saturn, so I went to the wrecking yard. First car I tried was a match.
Having said that, what kind of idiot spends $700 on Christmas after being laid off? Your kids don't deserve those presents and you deserve to be poor. You are a bad money manager.
If you spent $700 on Christmas gifts for your kids under those conditions, you had better be buying for at least 35 kids.

Let's flip a coin, Heads - it's "You enjoy rubbing salt in the wounds much?" and tails it's "you like kicking them when they're down much?"

Here we go!

It's tails!

*Ahem* - Hey bud, you like kicking them when they're down much?

ThisNameSux: Scruffinator: My garage door opener for here in Michigan worked on a house in upstate NY a few years ago.

I don't know if it's true but I've heard that there aren't that many frequencies dedicated to garage door openers. Thieves will drive around neighborhoods with multiple openers and eventually find one they can open.

The vast majority of garage door openers are controlled by eight dip switches, which means that their are only 256 possible combinations/codes so it is very easy to get into anyone's garage. You can even buy nifty devices on line that will generate all 256 codes in a relatively short period of time if you really want to get into a particular garage. However, this isn't also always needed as many people have the dip switches set to all up or all down (1, 0) or half and half or alternating. Newer openers have ten or even twelve dip switches (1024 and 4,096 combinations respectively) but these can still be overcome with brute force frequency generators. A few manufacturers now use proprietary codes which can help but these too can be found online. Long story short: garages aren't secure.

PlNG: So I learned a life tip: Do NOT park near cars that are like your own. Since keeping an eye out, I've managed to significantly reduce the number of instances of mistaken property.

That's good advice, but it's also possible that the driver of the other car parked next to her after she went inside the mall.