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[edit 11-27] picked up a really bad cold over the weekend and I’m barely functioning. Going to need to call a sick day today. Hoping to be better for Wednesday
Today's edition of the Secret Commentary is empty, because Dave failed to come up with something for it.
Surprised she didn’t leave the keys with her just in case. That way she can lock or unlock the doors if needed, etc. Would be odd that she wouldn’t notice that the car was locked when she left her spot, since you would normally have to unlock the door or try the handle twice to unlock the door if the whole car was locked. It could just be that the front passenger door is locked due to no one sitting there and unlocking it while leaving. In that case, the other 3 doors could be unlocked. It would also be odd for her back door to lock behind her right after she opened it. So I would hope that she would be able to get back in her spot.
Yeah, I came here to say approximately this. The door Selkie just exited should be unlocked.
The car is running to keep the AC going.
Yes, I knew that… Not sure how that changes what I said since I have only known cars to auto lock when you shift into gear, which shouldn’t have happened. Could you elaborate more on what you were trying to point out please, because I am not understanding? Thanks.
I think it’s about the “leave the keys with her” part– the keys are presumably in the car to keep it on so that the AC can be running.
I have dealt with some cars like this– where you can get out when it’s otherwise locked or it will quickly relock or whatever– though mostly with those cars I’d consider the situation to be “the car locks in mysterious ways.” So I can buy this, even if it’s not totally clear why it’s happening with this car.
Ah, thanks. I totally had my brain skip over that the keys would be required to be in the car to have it running. Realizing that the keys are in the car just made the situation worse than I thought. I do wonder how cars that you can start running with a press of a button but still have keys work.
Kimi, I have one of those cars that starts with a button. Having left it running with my teen in the car while I ran into a store with the keys, I can tell you exactly what would happen.
If the car was locked when the keys walked away the engine will still run (as long as you don’t try to drive it away). When the door is opened from the inside with the keys absent the alarm goes off. And keeps going off, until the keys come back and the button on the key fob unlocks the doors.
Yeah, this is really weird. Usually the car is either locked (in which case she couldn’t get out) or unlocked as a whole.
Yea, and if it’s one of these keyless car key things, the doors normally unlock automatically when you try the door if the key is close enough.
The sensors on those know if the key is inside the car or not. If it’s inside, the exterior unlock mechanism is disabled since that defeats the purpose of locking a car while you’re in it.
I feel like the disconnect here is that cars not locking themselves because the keys are in them is a relatively new invention and, if Grandma has an older car, it’s not going to do that.
I do think her door would at least be unlocked for 20-30 seconds though?
No???? Cars NOT locking themselves is not a recent invention it’s the default for how cars work??? Like. NOT doing a stupid too-smart-technology thing is DEFINITELY OLDER. I grew up with a soviet zhiguli 1, TRUST ME ON THIS
I’m not going to say this would be impossible, depending on the car, but it’s certainly *difficult* to pull off.
If it’s a fairly new car, generally speaking if it’s running and in park (which one assumes it is) the doors are automatically unlocked unless you manually override it (which they had no reason to do), and will autoamatically lock when put in gear.
If it’s a newer car with auto-lock, it would absolutely lock itself if the keys went with Grandma (mine does that), but it would also set off the alarm as soon as Selkie opened the door (mine also does this), and the door she got out of would remain unlocked. But it’s running, so that’s out, even if the keys aren’t in it.
If it’s an older car with the key in the ignition and none of the fancy stuff, then if you open a door it mechanically unlocks it and it won’t lock itself, so the door she got out of would be unlocked, and unless the other two manually locked the doors as they got out, those would also be unlocked.
I’m sure there’s some weird combination of auto-lock that could do this, but not in any car I’ve ever been in.
Yes!!! Thank you!!! This is weird!!!
What was it that grandma said? When one thing goes bad…
why do i believe echo power shenanigans will be involved?
I like the way the uuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhh speech bubble goes off the page lol
Why get out at all, instead of climbing between the front seats?
She is wearing a long fancy dress
Still wouldn’t stop some kids, but climbing over can be a pain even without a dress.
Perhaps that’s why Selkie says “sieze.” Get well soon.
Feel better Dave, don’t worry for our sakes.
And it looks like Wednesday didn’t work either, putting my hopes on Friday.
When you can, Dave. Don’t worry about it, as always, we’ll be here when you’re feeling well enough to continue.
I hope you feel better soon. <3
Dude! Lots of orange juice, cold medication, and bed rest. We’ll see you when you get back!