Valet Parking …at your house?

One of the things I hate most is not being able to find something in our own home.  When we moved into this house, somehow my DeWalt 20v charger went away, making all of the cordless tools powered by DeWalt 20v batteries useless.  It’s easy to think the movers took it, and they may have because they used it when dismantling and assembling the bed, but I’m pretty sure I’ve just lost it in a box here somewhere.  I’ve been digging since September 20th when we moved in with no luck.  

The other thing that has been missing lately has been keys.  When I’m asked what I’m looking for and I say “the key to _____” my wife hands me a BOX of keys.  About half of the time, the key is actually in the box.  Other times, I’ll find it and that big JUNK drawer we all have in our kitchen.  Sometimes in a different drawer, or in the garage, or a coat pocket.   It drives me nuts. 

But I noticed the guys who operate Valet Parking never have to dig for anyone’s keys.  They go right to them.  Now when my wife asks where the keys are for almost everything we own, I can say, “Valet Parking” and she knows to look here (below).  She still gives me a lot of crap about all of the keys hanging from this cabinet door in the laundry room but I haven’t had to look for a key in weeks.  That magnet thing with the hooks on the right was left by the previous owners.  I just hung the lint brush there while I find it a permanent home.  

I’m only about halfway through posting all of our keys there but soon, the entire collection will be on a hook here when you can easily identify something about them and GO without a search at all.  But look.  Motorcycle, lawn tractor, horse trailer (you can’t see it very well but the 2nd one from the left on the bottom row is a saddle).  For the cost of a few of these little adhesive hooks, I’ve saved myself a LOT of cursing and throwing things.  

In the process, I also found a LOT of keys for things we no longer own.  Homes, cars, locks and a few that we don’t recognize at all.  Weeding them out will help too.  Maybe I’ll even tip myself since I’m the guy running the Valet Parking facility.