i moved last week (yeah)
and then i got an amoeba and bacterial stomach bug at the same time (not so yeah, but medicine is amazing, and i feel like a human being again!)
...thus the blog silence.
but that is not the story i planned on telling. this one is...
when i moved into my own flat last week something completely new to me happened.
i became the only person with keys to my flat (always before there were roommates who had keys if i ever got locked out...which would be really hard since with padlocks here you need a key to lock them, not just to unlock them).
we actually have a plan for this in our community. it's simple.
"make sure someone else has a copy of your key"
so on the very day that i got the key to my new flat (before i even moved in) i went to the key shop and got 3 copies of the key made. (i actually have 2 locks...oh, that's an important part of this story...i have the lock that is on the door, and i have a padlock that i also put on )
when i got home, i tested the keys to see if they worked. (see how responsible i was being?)
1 worked
2 didn't
not what i really planned.
i decided not to give the working key to Sarah right away, cause i needed a working copy of the key today to give to Chaya (a long time friend of the community who i've hired to clean my flat and do my laundry (by hand) once a week for me).
i knew i had some time to get the other 2 keys sorted, so i wasn't in a big hurry.
and then today i swung by the key shop and had them fix the keys that were bad. and then i met Chaya and showed her my new place, where all the stuff she'd need was, and i gave her her keys.
i also had it in mind that i needed to get the keys to Sarah so i wouldn't accidentally get locked out. so while i was home with Chaya, I decided to check the keys that i got fixed today to see if they worked.
as this was all going on i saw my keys on a shelf and thought, "oh, grab your keys" but then i got distracted by the other keys.
1 worked
1 didn't
no problem, i still had a working key to give to Sarah "so i'd never get locked out" and i thought about grabbing the padlock key for Sarah so i'd just have both keys to give her next time i saw her...but that key was in a different place, so i didn't
and off i went on my merry way.
fast forward to 6pm.
i'm sitting in the office and go to grab my keys so i can lock the office quickly and run and errand...but i can't find my keys...and i look and look...and slowly put together that i never picked my keys up....and i freak out a little....i start making plans...what am i going to do?!!?
then i remember that i have Sarah's key...but only 1 of the 2 keys i need.
i thought about spending the night somewhere, and calling Chaya and seeing if she could drop the keys off tomorrow (she'll be in this part of town)
i thought about going down to Chaya's house to pick up the keys (she lives about an hour away from me using public transit) so i wasn't thrilled with that idea either
i called Sarah for a consult (i needed someone to help me process).
she suggesed i go to the key shop and see if they could help me...and then a Kerry (who happened to be at SB at the time) offered to send a trusted mistri (contractor) over to "just cut my lock off"
sweet. problem solved. that was easy.
nope.
the type of lock i have couldn't be cut through (the shape of it makes it impossible...upside - my house safer...downside - if you ever lock yourself out you're in big trouble)
so he eneded up cutting through the piece of metal that the lock is attached to...and then twisting the lock out...this process took about a half hour...of lots of hammering, sawing, twisting, and exertion... then he had to un-twist one of the pieces to get the door to open....then he had to go buy a piece to replace the piece he'd broken off so i could actually lock my door again...and that piece didn't fit quite right so it took him awhile to fix that...
oh, and we had to buy tools too - cause all he brought with him was a saw...cause that's what he was gonna do...saw off a lock...not disassemble a door.
none of it was very expensive.
and my lock is still in one piece, so that's a bonus...
and i know my door is really strong...and that if you want to try to break into my house it will take a very long time...and it will make a lot of noise...so that's good to know...at least my house is secure...
(and i got to talk to my new neighbors too...although i'm not sure this was the "hello" impression i wanted to make...)
rest assured...it won't happen again.
first item of business after the door was fully re-assembled?
give the spare keys (one for each lock) to Sarah.
and then i got an amoeba and bacterial stomach bug at the same time (not so yeah, but medicine is amazing, and i feel like a human being again!)
...thus the blog silence.
but that is not the story i planned on telling. this one is...
when i moved into my own flat last week something completely new to me happened.
i became the only person with keys to my flat (always before there were roommates who had keys if i ever got locked out...which would be really hard since with padlocks here you need a key to lock them, not just to unlock them).
we actually have a plan for this in our community. it's simple.
"make sure someone else has a copy of your key"
so on the very day that i got the key to my new flat (before i even moved in) i went to the key shop and got 3 copies of the key made. (i actually have 2 locks...oh, that's an important part of this story...i have the lock that is on the door, and i have a padlock that i also put on )
when i got home, i tested the keys to see if they worked. (see how responsible i was being?)
1 worked
2 didn't
not what i really planned.
i decided not to give the working key to Sarah right away, cause i needed a working copy of the key today to give to Chaya (a long time friend of the community who i've hired to clean my flat and do my laundry (by hand) once a week for me).
i knew i had some time to get the other 2 keys sorted, so i wasn't in a big hurry.
and then today i swung by the key shop and had them fix the keys that were bad. and then i met Chaya and showed her my new place, where all the stuff she'd need was, and i gave her her keys.
i also had it in mind that i needed to get the keys to Sarah so i wouldn't accidentally get locked out. so while i was home with Chaya, I decided to check the keys that i got fixed today to see if they worked.
as this was all going on i saw my keys on a shelf and thought, "oh, grab your keys" but then i got distracted by the other keys.
1 worked
1 didn't
no problem, i still had a working key to give to Sarah "so i'd never get locked out" and i thought about grabbing the padlock key for Sarah so i'd just have both keys to give her next time i saw her...but that key was in a different place, so i didn't
and off i went on my merry way.
fast forward to 6pm.
i'm sitting in the office and go to grab my keys so i can lock the office quickly and run and errand...but i can't find my keys...and i look and look...and slowly put together that i never picked my keys up....and i freak out a little....i start making plans...what am i going to do?!!?
then i remember that i have Sarah's key...but only 1 of the 2 keys i need.
i thought about spending the night somewhere, and calling Chaya and seeing if she could drop the keys off tomorrow (she'll be in this part of town)
i thought about going down to Chaya's house to pick up the keys (she lives about an hour away from me using public transit) so i wasn't thrilled with that idea either
i called Sarah for a consult (i needed someone to help me process).
she suggesed i go to the key shop and see if they could help me...and then a Kerry (who happened to be at SB at the time) offered to send a trusted mistri (contractor) over to "just cut my lock off"
sweet. problem solved. that was easy.
nope.
the type of lock i have couldn't be cut through (the shape of it makes it impossible...upside - my house safer...downside - if you ever lock yourself out you're in big trouble)
so he eneded up cutting through the piece of metal that the lock is attached to...and then twisting the lock out...this process took about a half hour...of lots of hammering, sawing, twisting, and exertion... then he had to un-twist one of the pieces to get the door to open....then he had to go buy a piece to replace the piece he'd broken off so i could actually lock my door again...and that piece didn't fit quite right so it took him awhile to fix that...
oh, and we had to buy tools too - cause all he brought with him was a saw...cause that's what he was gonna do...saw off a lock...not disassemble a door.
none of it was very expensive.
and my lock is still in one piece, so that's a bonus...
and i know my door is really strong...and that if you want to try to break into my house it will take a very long time...and it will make a lot of noise...so that's good to know...at least my house is secure...
(and i got to talk to my new neighbors too...although i'm not sure this was the "hello" impression i wanted to make...)
rest assured...it won't happen again.
first item of business after the door was fully re-assembled?
give the spare keys (one for each lock) to Sarah.
No comments:
Post a Comment