Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'

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clumsy fool proof drain cover

some sort of lid for a drain to prevent losing your car keys

(+6, -2)

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it always seems to be that you park your car exactly so that your driver door is just in line and above a drain. It is my worst (well one of them - a shark attack is another) night mare that I drop my car keys down the drain. Some sort of cover that does not prevent the rainwater's path to the sewer but will catch my keys.

—	po, Oct 05 2001

Jutta http://kbs.cs.tu-be...jutta/me/whois.html
Looks like we've got more than one Violent Femmes fan here. [DrBob, Nov 26 2001, last modified Oct 21 2004]

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If you always park your car by a drain, then why is it you always lose your car? (Reference to previous idea post, but can't remember what it was.)

I also have this worry. No easy answer.

However, a friend of mine has a large drain in the middle of his garage floor. He puts a rubber ball in it. When there is water present, the ball floats a little, opening the drain. When the area is dry, the ball keeps things from falling in.

—	quarterbaker, Oct 05 2001

you have something there quarterbaker - if in future I always park by the same drain I would not lose the car - cheers

—	po, Oct 05 2001

I wonder how much it would cost to magnetize the drain grates so that if you dropped your keys on them, they'd just stick instead of falling through.

—	seal10, Oct 05 2001

Or a key fob.

—	thumbwax, Oct 05 2001

Just remember not to put your keys next to your floppy disks.

—	mwburden, Oct 06 2001

what about lone car loan sharks?

—	lewisgirl, Oct 06 2001

UB I am still having nightmares over the inflateable shark that accompanied someone to a football match - who was that?

—	po, Oct 06 2001

UB are those last 2 sentences connected in any way?

—	po, Oct 06 2001

off to take an aspirin

—	po, Oct 06 2001

po, I think you got this all wrong, with the greatest respect. Every time you drop your keys down the drain there's a (small) chance they'll get washed out to the ocean and get eaten by a shark who'll choke, or at least get indigestion and feel a bit too crap to eat anyone that day; or else they'll poke its little beady shark eye out. So get dropping!

—	pottedstu, Oct 06 2001

Football match? Football match?? It was cricket. Cricket. CRICKET! CRICKET!! CRICKET!!!

...but football's good too.

<aside to audience> Have you ever noticed how weird words start to look & how they lose their meaning when you repeat them over & over again?

—	DrBob, Oct 06 2001

soo sorrrrry cricket of course it makes all the difference

England 5 Germany 1

—	po, Oct 06 2001

Dr Bob <aside> yes - words like catheter, cricket and cheese

—	po, Oct 07 2001

maybe this is just to simple but why don't they just put a wire mesh then water will go through and keys will stay on the mesh :-)

—	GreeboMaster, Oct 07 2001

Because a mesh small enough to keep keys from going through would be small enough to clog easily...and more importantly, it'd cost more.

—	StarChaser, Oct 07 2001

good point

—	GreeboMaster, Oct 07 2001

On some drains in the uk the drain covers have slats that are angled at 45 degrees. This apprears to prevent stuff dropped falling straight down, as it lands on top of the slats, however because of the angle of the slats, they dont normally clog...

Maybe a drin cover could be designed with the slats on different levels... thus: _--_--_--_--_--_

—	CasaLoco, Oct 08 2001

[casaloco] I think that's to prevent cyclists from losing a tyre down the drain covers.

—	stupop, Oct 08 2001

//> Have you ever noticed how weird words start to look & how they lose their meaning when you repeat them over & over again?//

Dr.Bob.

Pity me. My first name is Graeme and I feel like this every time I write it.

—	ChewTheBeef, Oct 08 2001

—	DrBob, Oct 08 2001

I hate this when it happens, a cover would be good. I would buy one and then i would throw peoples keys down that I dont like.

—	violentfem, Nov 14 2001

what is a violentfem when it is at home?

violet fern would be much nicer

—	po, Nov 14 2001

No idea, po. But whatever you do, don't lend your car keys to one.

—	DrBob, Nov 14 2001

The Violent Femmes are a band that had good sucess in the early - mid 80's. They continued to produce records until about mid 90's. Some of my favorite songs of theirs are "Blister in the Sun", "Kiss Off", "Add it Up", and "Country Death Song." There was recenly a movie called "Grosse Point Blank" that had "Blister in the Sun" and a remixed version of it in it. Maybe [violentfem] is a basterdized version of this...

—	barnzenen, Nov 14 2001

[barnzenen] how very interesting - wonder if 2 are connected in any way whatsoever????

—	po, Nov 14 2001

What [thumbwax] said (fob).

—	snarfyguy, Nov 15 2001

Isn't "fem" a slang term for a feminine lesbian, "butch" being the masculine-looking equivalent?

—	pottedstu, Nov 15 2001

Carry a length of string with a magnet on the end. Or attach keys to string and tie to wrist.

—	LardyBloke, Nov 15 2001

pottedstu - "butch" and "femme" have been used to describe different types of gay men, and lesbians as well. Now, it seems to be used for both genders and any sexual orientation. After all, there are femme straight boys (or so they claim).

ON TOPIC: Belt-holster keychain reel thingy. Accessorize as required.

—	quarterbaker, Nov 15 2001

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