This is a perfect task for someone with your obsessive compulsive tendencies and you’ve been feeling a little bit bored for the past couple of days so your over active mind is absolutely up for this new challenge. First step is to sort all the keys into piles. Deciding whether to sort them by size or shape could slow things down a little bit, so perhaps you should start out by figuring out what type of lock the really distinct keys should go in and then you can narrow down the organization of the groups in that fashion.

Computer keys are fairly obvious, even though they are largely not in circulation any more. You may find it quite challenging to find even one computer case that the collection of keys you have will be useful for.

Desk drawers are another key challenge, they are fairly easy to recognize due to their smaller size, so be prepared to carry around all the keys of the same size and type to every desk in the building as you proceed on identification and labelling portion of the assignment.

Filing cabinets also take keys of a readily recognizable size and shape so matching up all of these keys up with their correct locks should be a relatively easy task. More challenging, if not to say daunting is the task of sorting through all the obvious door keys that you have as you go from floor to floor in the dormitory trying keys in locks to see which one gives you the satisfying click of a lock snapping open. Better knock first, just so that the occupant of that room isn’t caught off guard by your triumphant entrance after a successful key to lock match-up.

Keys go missing for any number of reasons and in a large store with multiple drawers, filing cabinets and other items that all have similar locks, it is not unheard of for one essential key to go home in an employee’s pants pocket. If you are the manger who has to crawl out of bed in the middle of the night in order to unlock a supply cabinet for the relief janitor, you may not be feeling very charitable toward the erring employee the next time you encounter them in the lift.

Hunting for keys can be a time-wasting exercise in frustration. Many companies have instituted formal procedures to tray and keep track of the numerous small keys required in their business. A key sign out sheet right next to the key cabinet can be very useful, providing that the sheet is close at hand as the employer reaches in through the door to the room in order to grab their key without letting the door go shut. Don’t forget that there will also need to be a pen or pencil handy to the sheet. Otherwise, it is a simple matter to take the key and run. From personal experience I can tell you that keys live securely in their proper place for weeks at a time when only one person needs to use that key, let a junior be hired who also needs that one particular key however, and it is sure to turn up at the bottom of a parka pocket that hasn’t been worn to work since the last storm blew in a blizzard and you had to grab it to wear to work, instead of your customary blazer.

Now obviously there will be other things that you’ll need to consider as you ready this cute little car for delivery. Hopefully when you went to get the replacement key you also remembered to get three to ten extras made at the same time. You may want to hang on to all of these except for the one though, so that she doesn’t give all her friends a spare key so that they can borrow the car to use it for a cross-country trip on the next bank holiday.

If you haven’t already done so, it would be a good idea to check all the belts and connections under the hood before handing over the keys as well. Unless your daughter is specializing in motor mechanics, you’ll want to be sure that everything in the engine compartment is in good working order before she heads out on the M4 to Bristol for the next bank holiday.

Something else you should probably invest in for your own piece of mind is some additional roadside assistance coverage so that when her first tire goes flat, you don’t get called out in the pouring rain during the football finals. That’s what tow truck operators get paid for so what are they doing lounging about watching the television, anyway.

We were just returning from a long shopping excursion in a warehouse type camping store. As we walked towards her vehicle, she began fumbling in her purse for her car keys. I was loaded with parcels, my own purse and two small children so I was looking forward to putting a few things down and sitting down myself. This was not to be, because after some long moments of searching, shaking and ultimately dumping her bag out on the pavement, no keys showed up. Sigh, the announcement was made that the keys were NOT in her purse – I’d already figured that one out – so they must be somewhere in the store that we just left.

Taking on my responsibility to help in the key search I dragged my children, the parcels and myself back into the store and began to retrace our steps in reverse. Fortunately for this story, there was a happy ending. We did manage to find her keys, laying out in plain view where she had put them down as she picked up a camp stove to examine more closely. All told, that key search only took us approximately twenty minutes.

Since then she has managed to misplace and even lose keys in such puzzling locations as the yard between her car and house as well as a brightly lit church parking lot. Even more worrisome was the recent admission made by her husband that he recently managed to accidentally recycle his keys, a sure indication that her key disease is catching.