Comments The Locksmith Journals

[day late]

Hopefully we don't hear anything. I did neglect to mention one other job I did. This one just makes you wonder about people. It was odd from the start. Most of the time when you rekey a door, it's two locks. Doorknob and deadbolt. In the dispatch I'm told it's only three locks. OK. Maybe the front door has one of those handles with the thumb button to open the door. They don't have locks. Nope. The lady greets me and then shows me four different doors. Each with a doorknob and a deadbolt. I am to only rekey the deadbolts on three of the doors. Odd, but alright. I am not to touch the front door. I don't ask questions of the customers. Honestly, I'm sure there are times I wouldn't like the answer. But I can hear.

While I'm working a neighbor comes by and wants to know what's going on. The lady introduces herself and the man she is with. Then askes the neighbor if he heard what happened to her brother, the former occupant of the home. He says yes and offers his condolences. I assume the brother has died. They talk and I work. Later the lady and I are inside while she is deciding about the front door when she tells me more than I want to know. She wants to leave the front door unchanged, because if she changes all of the locks, her sister can claim that she is denying her access to their mutual brother's home. And about half of the estate is still in probate, even though she has been living there the entire time.

Two things I just don't get. First, how can people be such vultures over the property of a deceased relative? Secondly, why in heavens name are you calling me out here to do half of a job, when if you are successful in probate, you'll have to call be back later to finish it?

What can I say? I just work here.

 

[feralferret]

What? You expect people to use logic and common sense?

 

[Freebirde]

Did the front door have a camera to show if and when the other sister came by along with showing if she took something?

 

[larry_minn]

People are weird. My mom gave my wife her old sewing machine. And the cabinet. Because her new machine did not fit. But she set it on top. When she passed I helped sis load her suv. Then I left. Sis unloaded enough to fit larger sewing cabinet, stuffed her stuff. For a cabinet that can not be easily modified to fit the machine

 

[ydderf]

When my wife died her sister was like a vulture. Two days later SIL swooped in and took all the crystal ornaments I had bought over a 10 year marriage plus all the jewelry.
I hope it was divided between the nieces as planned.

 

[day late]

It is amazing how quickly things can change. The V.P. of my BNI chapter and I, to date, have had three face to face conversations. Two of them ended when she got this blank stare/deer in the headlights look, then turned and walked away. And she did it while I was mid-sentence. I know I'm not the most interesting man in the world. I know at times I can be quite boring. So, having that happen once, it could be that I wasn't entertaining enough. But TWICE in three conversations? That's just rude. Ok. I could put up with that. Besides, she and I already did our one to one, so I don't need to worry about her any more. Then I reached out to do the meeting with the chapter pres. Due to scheduling we couldn't get together right away. Last Friday, I got an email from him saying he would be at a local establishment at 11 the next day. I responded that I would be there and we could get this out of the way. It is a local brewery/restaurant. They open at 11. I was there at 10:50, even if it was my day off. They opened and I ordered a cup of coffee. At 11:10 I emailed asking if he was on his way. At 11:40 I paid for the coffee and left. He never showed. I wasn't too happy about this. I told the boss what happened with both of these two. I was told not to email them again. At 9:10 P.M. I got an email from the pres. In short, he said,

"Sorry. I didn't realize that when I sent the email saying I would be there tomorrow, it was after midnight. You were a day late."

Alright, I get sending the message on the wrong day. But I responded saying I would be there at the time I was told it would be. Why didn't he notify me a day, or even half a day earlier so I wouldn't waste my time? Once I was there, why didn't he respond to my request for his ETA and explain the mistake so I wouldn't waste my time? Why did he wait so long before saying anything? Again, this is just rude. It seems the boss thinks so as well. I've been informed I will not be attending any more BNI meetings with this group. They want to find someone to replace me and find a different group to put me in.

Suits me. I can deal with most people and things. But to me this displays a self-induced air of superiority. I just can't deal with know-it-alls. They don't listen and when things go south, they blame anyone and everyone else, instead of taking personal responsibility. Drives me nuts. If you screwed up, stand up, take the hit and get it over with. Denial just drags it out and makes everybody upset.

 

[day late]

It's gotta be something in the water. First of all, I wasn't supposed to work on last Sunday. BUT, the boss has a contract with U-Haul. Yesterday there was one of their trucks that I was told I had to open and then jump start. The reason was that the guy who was on, already had four or five jobs waiting on him. This job was in Keystone Heights. That's an hour drive from me. AND I had the van anyway.

"We know it's your day off, but you are the only one available and U-Haul is threatening to cancel the contract if we don't send somebody."

Ok. I jump in the van and make the trip. When I arrive, the lady greets me, I get my stuff to open the truck and she stops me.

"I have the key. The thing just won't start."

Long story short. It didn't even need the jump. Her husband and her father had already figured out the problem. It was the starter or the alternator. The engine is turning over just fine. There's just no spark to fire her up. It took two and 1/2 hours drive and work time, a paper receipt from a locksmith, and a cost of $150 to U-Haul for them to be satisfied that the truck had actually broken down and they had to send a tow truck.

So, I'm on my way home. I just arrive at the city limits when I get another call. It's a newer model Camry, and the keys are in the trunk. Usually, I just reach inside and either push the trunk button or pull the handle. That doesn't work with the Camry. The trunk release only works if the car door is unlocked. But if I open the door, the computer turns off the trunk release. With this car it is impossible to go through the back seat to get into the trunk. Only one answer left. I have to open the door, remove the lock from the door, reach inside and manipulate the locking mechanism by hand. This fools the computer into believing that someone with the key has opened the car and it resets everything. Now the release button works. It's a pain to do and is ONLY used as a last resort. Mainly because after everything is reset, I have to put it all back together.

Then we have the two things worth mentioning today. Yeah, my sense of humor is a bit odd. I got my wife mad at me. One of the calls I got was fairly common. A young lady had locked herself out of her bedroom. It suddenly hit me and as I was leaving, I said to my wife, she should be happy. After all, how many husbands get called to open bedrooms for young, single, attractive, ladies, while they are home alone, and they don't have to worry about anything? She didn't appreciate my humor. But she did get over it and made a wonderful supper.

Then just to top off the day in the prefect way, my last call of the day was a Camry. The keys were locked in the trunk.

 

[Texican]

DL,

After all, how many husbands get called to open bedrooms for young, single, attractive, ladies, while they are home alone, and they don't have to worry about anything? She didn't appreciate my humor. But she did get over it and made a wonderful supper.

Sometimes us really intelligent husbands push the boundaries and wonder what caused the reaction from our DW's, but you did manage to survive with a wonderful supper.

Texican....

 

[day late]

Well, to be honest, I didn't mention about the time I was called to a sorority at 6:00 A.M. to open a bedroom. With at least a half dozen or more barely dressed ladies around me, watching every move.

 

[Mr Bill]

Hard job but someone has to do it

 

[day late]

Hard job but someone has to do it

I have said before that the jitteriness that kind of thing causes DOES help in picking the pins.

 

[day late]

Just a quick stop tonight. But I think I see where this is going. In the past few working days, I've had to make long distance trips every day and sometimes multiple times a day. It makes sense. If I'm out of networking, then keep the younger guys who are trained in more than I am close to home and send me to do the simple jobs that might take the big van out of play for a couple of hours. After all, it is the big van that does car keys, and they are worth a whole lot more than a simple lockout. I don't mind. I enjoy driving. Making my wife crazy though. She's convinced I'm going to end up dead on the side of the road somewhere. The funny part is she didn't have that fear when I was still doing dental and driving all over to see doctors. Go figure.

 

[day late]

This job is always full of surprises. I haven't made it a secret that the boss wants to make every penny he can, while at times I'm a real soft touch. So, I get a job. According to the dispatch, I have to go halfway across town and change the battery in a keypad deadbolt. I'm being told that I'm charging $70 just for the service call, and then add another $65 for the lock repair. $135, just to change 4 AA batteries. In my mind, I'm seeing some poor old soul who has trouble finding the front door, with nobody close by to help out. This is ridiculous. I get to the job ahead of the customer and once he arrives, I feel much better about taking this guy's money. It turns out that the house is both empty and up for sale. The customer is the realtor and for whatever reason, he has been depending on the keypad, instead of the key. He didn't check it and the batteries died. If you're going to be that much of a doofus when it's your job, you deserve to pay for it.

I must admit, these long distance jobs are working out better than I thought they would. It's nice to spend time just rolling down the road, listening to music, knowing that when you get there you are likely to only spend a short time and then get the leisurely trip back. Without worrying about getting from this house lockout to that car lockout, all the while making sure the board is clear for the rekey appointment you have later. Also, everyone is all smiles when I pull up. The knight in shining armor has shown up. It also gets me out of 'honey-do's' a lot of the time.

"Sweetheart. I can't do that right now. I can't get all sweaty and then have to go see a customer."

The money isn't bad either. True, in town it's now $70 to get into your car. But if I have to drive for 40 minutes just to reach the area, now you are up around $185. More if it is an 18 wheeler. But again, these are folks who are out of resources and are happy to just have someone come out to where they are. I had one this morning. 35 minutes one way. Opened the car in just a couple of minutes. As they were handing me the card they mentioned that they were so happy to find us. The other guy said two hours. Their shop isn't eight miles from my house, and I know that like us, they have just two vans. But TWO HOURS??? Man, if you are that busy, you need to just give up some calls or get another van and hire more people.

 

[Texican]

Hey DL,

Hope you are feeling ok since it is approaching 5 days since you posted.

Texican....

 

[Bob the Builder]

Uuuummmmm..........day late right?
Hoping he is ok also.

 

[day late]

Thanks for asking. I had a birthday stuck in there and have been absent for a bit.

 

[IVYINFLA]

Happy belated birthday.

 

[day late]

I do apologize for being AWOL for a bit. But hey, a man doesn't turn 67 every day.

You may have gathered by now that every customer is a story all unto themselves. Now, I admit most of them have stories or problems that are fairly common. Many of them are Karens who never do anything wrong. But once in a while you end up with someone that all you can do is shake your head and agree with them. That was a couple of days ago. I got a call that just sounded bad from the start. I had to go to a house and re-key four locks. That is simple. It started to get interesting when the customer tells me as we are talking on the phone,

"It's okay if you want to get started before I get there. The tenants changed the lock on me and somehow, they can't seem to find one to give me. They moved out, but all of their stuff is still there, so I can't lock the door."

Now wait a minute. The tenants have been thrown out, but they left their stuff. On top of that, you can't deny them access to their property, so you can't lock the house. How do I know if they are going to show up while I'm there, to pick up said stuff and get mad at me for changing the locks? I do admit, my prejudice got the better of me that day. I need to work on that. I glanced at the address, without really looking at it, and thought that it was in a VERY low rent/wire mesh on all windows below the third floor, kind of neighborhoods. I dread going to those places. But once I pulled it up on the map, it is actually in a very nice, quiet, old well-established neighborhoods in town. It was a very nice mid to late sixtyish style home with four beds and two baths. Wood floors, NOT laminate or anything like that. Hugh living room and equally sized kitchen, and a nice fireplace. A really nice place. The owner put locking knobs on all the bedrooms and rented it out to students. Now here is where things take another turn for the odd. I don't know what kind of locks this guy had on the outside of the home before, but they were replaced by top-of-the-line Smart Key deadbolts and doorknobs. The knobs don't bother me. I'll get past them quickly. But the deadbolt will have to be drilled.

This is Kwikset's best. Just under that cheap aluminum faceplate on the deadbolt I drill through to reach the screws that hold the lock on the door, is a layer of case-hardened steel. It's not too thick. It will only take about four to six drill bits and at least forty-five minutes to get through it. No wonder I'm happy the home is open. A lot easier to remove the lock from the inside. But why would four college students assuming they are like all the rest, never enough money, go through the trouble and expense of installing these locks? AND why when they left, did they leave credit cards lying in the open on tables and counters, in three different places? One was a container that had at least three cards in it. I didn't look to check for names or anything. I just saw how many there were. Why did one person leave a basket of prescription drugs in a hall closet? When the customer said they left their stuff, he meant it. Out of four bedrooms, only one was empty. The others had beds, furniture, clothes and, of course, trash. It seems one of the last things the tenants did before leaving was turn off the power. But they left a fridge full of food and the power was out for about a week. There were a dozen large trash bags stuffed to overflowing in the kitchen, waiting to be taken out. Once the rest of the bags were filled that is.

The customer asked, more to himself than to me,

"How can people live like this? And these are college students."

What can I say? I shook my head and agreed with him. It worked out well. Since they were Smart Key locks, even if he didn't have the key, it was quick and easy to do it. He got there after me, left before me, and paid over the phone to the ladies at dispatch. All I did was twist a few screws and the cradle we use for the Smart Key locks, and then put it back on the door. Works for me.

 

[day late]

I know I use the word interesting a lot. So, I'll ask ya'll to tell me about today. There clearly seems to be something put in the water.

Yesterday during off hours, I got a dispatch for a job at 1:00 P.M. today. The job is 40 minutes away and very simple. I just have to re-key four Smart Key locks. Right. I finished my first job and called the customer about two hours ahead of time to confirm the appointment. Turns out that he is okay with getting the job done early and asks me to head that way. I do and call him when I'm close for him to guide me to the door. This was my first sign that things weren't going to be normal. He told me,

"Take a right at the end of the road. There may be a couple of Sherriff's cars out front, but don't worry. They should be gone soon."

I arrive to find the customer, a young lady with about a four-year-old son, and three Deputies standing in the yard talking. I'm asked to wait in the street, "For a few minutes" while they finish talking. That lasted half an hour. I then find out that the man's ex-wife lives here, he DOES have legal access to the property, but she has changed the locks and he doesn't have a key. It appears that she is not home and he wants in. It has already been proven he does have the legal right to enter. I go to the front door. It's a Smart Key. I don't want to drill, so I ask if I can try another door. Sure, there's one on the other side of the house. I get there, it's a standard deadbolt. I can pick this. I kneel down and go to work and after a couple of minutes I look up, through the glass in the door, and there is the ex. She has a baby in one arm and the phone in the other hand talking to her lawyer.

That's it. I stop. I'm not picking one more pin until I have an officer tell me I can do it. What followed was a long drawn out he said/she said argument. Sometimes she was outside, baby on her hip. Sometimes she was inside, screaming through the door. The Deputies are trying to talk with her. They've already spoken with him. At first, she wouldn't answer the door. They asked their dispatch to call her. She didn't answer the phone. Round and around it went, until finally I was told I would be re-keying only one door. He gets a key and so does she.

The only part that worried me was when, at first after she answered the officers, as I went to the house I hear less than half of a conversation the Deputies are having.

"Did you hear anything about a gun?"

"Mumble, mumble, gun."

"Mumble, mumble, gun, mumble, gun."

This does not make me feel all warm and fuzzy.

Now the lady inside has agreed, by force, to allow one door to be re-keyed. We get to the door and the customer try's to open it only to find the ex has locked him out again. Now, we're back to waiting for law enforcement to have a few words.

In the end, one door was re-keyed. The ex was told rather loud and forcefully that the customer did have a right to enter. And if she locked him out again, law enforcement would do nothing if he broke a window and let himself in. As long as the window was the only thing to suffer damage that is. From what I picked up, that won't be a problem. The two of them want to be as far away from each other as they can be and in needs to happen yesterday.

Then I hit the second divorce job today. Not as dramatic, but it seems the husband has a no contact order against her. She's been getting into his place and taking stuff. Then she changed the locks on him. I got him inside, but according to him there were a number of things missing again, including tools. Changing the locks or re-keying them isn't going to help. She, or a close friend of hers, keep forcing the window open and getting in that way.

Must be something in the water today to drive the divorced couples nuts.

 

[moldy]

Divorced couples are usually nuts, at least for a while during the proceedings.

 

[larry_minn]

Maybe shop policy is to require a court order, or notarized signature from both parties if known issue?

 

[Raymond]

Shop policies like that sound wonderful. But since you almost never get a hint of the issues until you get there, you will have lost a hell of a lot of time trying to cross every T and dot every I. Get required ID and possibly take a photo in case you are called as a witness later. Most of the times I've run into that we can't even get a LEO to show up since it is a 'civil' matter. There is just nothing to prevent both of the involved couple from changing the locks back and forth just to spite and inconvenience the other. If they admit there is no court order of any type carry on with your business as quickly as you can and scram.

 

[day late]

Unfortunately, the customer doesn't always tell you the whole story. Sometimes what they say has absolutely no resemblance to the truth. The way we find out is by pulling up at the location. We do have a certain latitude in what we do. For example, if I roll up and I have someone who looks like he either just stepped out of the hood, or just got off the truck that brought him to the city from the farm and this person wants me to open a Maserati, I'm going to have questions. If I feel there is anything wrong with the job, the boss wants us to walk away.

 

[day late]

WHAT a difference a day makes. Yesterday was Mother's Day and I guess everyone was being super careful not to mess up her day. I went on duty at 8 as usual. By 11 I was told that we were so slow, I could just take the rest of the day off. Then we got today. The morning was easy enough. Just one job and that was installing and re-keying a doorknob. Right before lunch I got a call from the manager. The Ocala office is short-handed and swamped. I have to go down there and help them out. Normally when this happens it is for one or two jobs at most. I spent six hours there. And I NEVER want to see another vending machine.

That was an odd job. The call is to open two vending machines. I call as usual to let the customer know I'm on the way. The voicemail is for a lawyer. Okay, that's odd. Maybe it's a big firm and they are doing something to the break-room. No answer, so I leave a message. I follow GPS to the address. It is a car wash. All I can do is pull in and ask if anyone called for a locksmith.

"Oh yeah. The boss called. You can park it back there. I'll call him for you."

As I'm parking I ask one of the people working there about the voice-mail.

"Yeah, he's a lawyer. But he's got so many other businesses, that he's kind of giving that up."

So, I get inside and the customer is restoring a few vending machines for re-sale. But no keys. Two machines turned into three and maybe four, behind my back, so to speak. Most of these things have standard tubular locks. I have the special picks for them and have opened a number of them. But that was the possible, later certain, third machine. The two most important had a type of lock I've only seen once before. The keyhole is crescent moon shaped and it doesn't have pins. It has wafers. You can't pick them. You can only drill them, and they are a BEAR to drill out. There are a series of wafers you have to drill through, but each wafer will spin 360 degrees. So, when the bit hits it, it spins. You have to damage it to hold it in place, then drill through it to the next one. After getting three wafers drilled out, the remaining four will tip sideways and can be pulled out. Two machines, an hour and a half, easy. I had started on the machine with the tubular lock earlier while one last search was being made for keys, and one of the guys was watching me. They gave up the search and said to drill. Knowing that was going to be harder, I offered the guy the chance to play with the pick. As I was drilling the first lock he said,

"It turned a little bit."

"Keep turning it."

He was quite happy he had just picked a lock and told the lawyer boss. He came by to look at the picks and asked if he could borrow them for a minute, while I was drilling the other lock. He left and came back about 10 minutes later looking very pleased with himself and asked what it took to get a set of picks like those. I told him and he was shocked.

"You mean ANYBODY can order them on Amazon? You don't need a license or something?"

Uhh, yeah, they can and no you don't. Nice to think I taught a lawyer something. The rest of the day was spent trying not to get lost in a town I don't really know, with a GPS that isn't always my friend. At 6:30 I was told to head home, a 40-minute drive. I'm 1/2 mile from the exit to my house and have to go about fifteen minutes north past it for the last call of the day. I got home about 7:45 which was just enough time to get a cup of coffee and settle down for the 8:00 meeting. I finally got supper at 8:45. Six jobs today, which is about normal, but four of them out of town. Boss, hire more people or give me a raise.

 

[feralferret]

Obviously not the real Lock Picking Lawyer.

 

[day late]

I never thought I would ever hear myself say this, but maybe I need to complain more. After the day I had Monday, I did text the manager. I did say in a rather tongue-in-cheek way that if this was going to become a regular thing, I needed a raise. It was done in a way that was intended to say, 'Ok. once in a while, fine. But if I'm driving this much, yeah that's worth a few more bucks.' That was Tuesday. Today I got a call, not text, from the manager. I'm an old and highly valued employee, but we are short-handed down in Ocala right now. (One of our locksmiths got his certification to become a tattoo artist and is opening his own shop.) More trips are likely. BUT...I spoke with the boss and we really don't want to lose you. Long story short, the hourly wage is being bumped, just a little. However, because of SS before this I was limited on income. Now that I'm 67, there is no more limit. I will be also getting a 5% commission of each job I do. That's not going to be a lot, but it certainly helps. Most importantly, if I understood correctly, I'll also be getting another 5%, but this is from the company's profit. At yesterday's meeting (before I texted the manager) it was announced that so far this month, we've been averaging $3,000 a day. THAT could add up to a nice chunk of change pretty quickly.

Not bad for just venting with a smart-a**ed remark.

 

[day late]

It has been a long time since I was so happy to get rid of the van for a few days. I only worked yesterday and today. Today wasn't bad at all. Saturday, I spent most of the day behind the wheel. First job I got was the worst. The job wasn't that big of a deal. Just open a car. But it is in Lake City. 45 minutes one way. I got there with no problem. It was the trip home when it started to go downhill. A few miles south of Lake City is Lake Butler. Just another small town. It seems that a southbound trucker on I-75, broke through the metal barrier between the north and south lanes and overturned. It was blocking the left lane, the middle lane it taken up with emergency people and vehicles, and all northbound traffic is now squeezed into one lane. I measured the back up at, at least, ten miles. You'd think that going south after the job, there would be no problem for me. Wrong answer. A couple of rubber-neckers were watching the accident and not the road. They met, at speed, and now the southbound traffic is squeezed down to one lane. I spent 45 minutes going maybe 200 yards and looking at the back of an 18-wheeler. It was after I passed the accident of the south side I got the chance to measure the back-up on the north side.

Later trips that day included one to Melrose, 48 minutes one way. And another to Williston, About 40 minutes. Each in a completely different compass baring from the others. No way to string them together and just run down the line. One call locally the customer wanted us to come out and re-key his home. Not a problem, usually it's four locks, two on each door, and about an hour of my time. To be fair, the customer DID say he was unsure of how many locks we were going to have to re-key. I went out and we walked through together. 12 locks. Two of them were almost hopeless. It had been so long since a key had been put into them, they were almost frozen solid. One door had a frame that was so badly warped, it was almost impossible to get it open to remove the locks. With this many locks, the boss likes to send two smiths, for the sake of time. But we didn't know how many locks there were until we walked through and counted.

None of the jobs were really that hard, they were just so far apart. I used over a half a tank of gas that day. Even with tools that little van has got to get somewhere around 25 MPG. I put some miles on that thing.

The one thing that makes me scratch my head right now is a call I got from the manager saying that she and the boss want to sit down with me tomorrow and explain this raise I getting. I mean what's to explain? I'm getting the money, or I'm not. If I am, thank you very much. If not, what are you talking about and why did you even mention it in the first place?

 

[day late]

Some days you just scratch you head and wonder, what else? It wasn't too bad, just a little off. The first two jobs were no big deal. A couple of car lockouts. Just before lunch I get a call. I have to go out of town again. Once more I'm off to Lake City. My problem is the directions are somewhat lacking. The address is the westbound rest stop on I-10. Is that the westbound rest stop on the east side of Lake City heading towards Jacksonville, or is it the one on the west side of Lake City? Differences are important. The first rest stop is about 20 or 30 miles east of Lake City. The second one is about a mile west. By the time I got there, it's an hour trip, they had gotten me the right address and it was the closer one. Still, an hour each way and working only about 5 minutes. I got home a little before lunch. The thing is, we were planning on picking up something for my brother who has been in the hospital with Mom these past few days. Naturally, I get a call at 11:30 sending me to Ocala. My wife is all upset because this disrupts the visiting plans for my mother and brother. She's telling me to tell the manager that I had made arrangements to have lunch off (I had.) and I wasn't going to Ocala. I pointed out to her that just yesterday this boss fired another guy who decided he was going to tell the boss which jobs he would take and which ones he wouldn't. I'm going to Ocala.

I call the customer to tell her that I'm on my way, but it's going to be an hour to reach her since I'm in Gainesville and she's in Ocala. She stops me.

"I'm in Gainesville."

Dispatch had the wrong address. She's 10 minutes away. I run over, open the car and get back home in time to carry out the lunch plans. Just as I'm leaving the hospital, I get a call. Other side of town, of course, but still not too far away. I arrive at the location the same time as AAA. Turns out that her husband had used us before and called us when his wife told him what happened. After they hung up, she remembered her insurance covers AAA. She called them. Since the other guys are paid for by insurance, sorry fella. You made a trip for nothing.

One call cancelled, and another was taken away from me and given to someone else. Just one of those days I guess. Just hope the next one will be better.

 

[Texican]

DL,

Sometimes you have good luck and other times bad luck. So goes life.

Texican....

 

[day late]

Talk about bad luck. I was at home the other night and heard a thump outside. The following gives you an idea of how I spent the past couple of days. I'm tired. The funny part is that I finished stacking this at about 5 P.M. The guy came to pick me up with the van at 8. All of that cut wood was gone. Someone must have come by with a trailer and picked it up. Fine by me. Now, I don't have to look at it.

 

[larry_minn]

So strange. If they came by as you were clearing it. “Could I have the wood for helping”? You would have been thrilled. Likely your wife brought out some cookies, or lunch, lemonaid…
but they had to steal it.

 

[summerthyme]

Talk about bad luck. I was at home the other night and heard a thump outside. The following gives you an idea of how I spent the past couple of days. I'm tired. The funny part is that I finished stacking this at about 5 P.M. The guy came to pick me up with the van at 8. All of that cut wood was gone. Someone must have come by with a trailer and picked it up. Fine by me. Now, I don't have to look at it.

I hope they left the axe!

Summerthyme

 

[day late]

I put the ax in there to give everyone an idea of the size of the chunks of wood I had to cut and move.

You can never tell about a job by what the customer tells the ladies at dispatch, or even you. Two jobs today prove it. The first one sounded simple enough. Just rekey a couple of locks. I call the customer to let her know I'm on my way and she says something that raises a flag or two.

"If there is anyone there when you arrive, just stay in your truck. I'll handle it."

Say what? Just what am I getting into here? It turns out that two sisters are basically moving Mom out of her home and into another place. Not assisted living, but something smaller that she can handle on her own. I was in and out of there in no time, and the customer was so pleased with the service she added a $50 tip to the bill. I can't argue with that.

Then we had the second job. The other guy had been out there yesterday, gotten in through a side door, then rekeyed the front door knob. Here's where it gets confusing. At first I thought the other guy had made that classic rookie mistake that we all do. He put the tailpiece on the deadbolt backwards and now when you turn the key, the bolt locks. But when you turn your key back the other way to take it out of the lock, the bolt unlocks. A simple and easy mistake to make and we all do it. Especially if we are in a rush. But it was the doorknob he worked on. I had to get the lady in again, because all of the deadbolts were locked. Unless you want to pick them, the only way to lock the deadbolt from the outside is with the key. She doesn't have a deadbolt key. But it's the same lady. How did all the deadbolts get locked if he didn't pick them and she doesn't have a key? She is insisting that our guy locked her out after he had rekeyed the knob. It seems she had to leave before he was done and paid in advance. He left the key in a pre-selected spot. But he didn't lock the deadbolts.

There can only be two answers. 1. The house is haunted. 2. Someone unknown to the customer has a key. WHICH MEANS, rekeying the knob doesn't do a bit of good, if the deadbolt is keyed differently. The oddest part is that it is apparently two people acting on behalf of the homeowner, that are unknown to each other, but the house is totally empty. The other guy feels something pretty sketchy is going on there. He wants to call the cops. But for what? Getting into an empty house? Not even trying to secure it, just get into an empty house. Strange, and the other guy could be right. Something a bit shady may well be going on. But it could also be we are on the edge of a family squabble that we really don't want anything to do with.

 

[day late]

Alright. Company meeting that was supposed to be Monday happened Wednesday. I had been given information that others hadn't. I was told one of the guys running the big van was tired of cutting keys and basically wanted my job. Just do the emergency stuff. He was tired of having to deal with customers who always want the job done five minutes ago and didn't understand you have a guy doing a computer geek's job, in your front seat, in who knows what kind of weather. He told the boss as much. He doesn't work for the company any longer. I knew that going into the meeting but had promised not to say anything. IN the meeting I heard an interesting comment from the boss, thanking everyone for sticking together during the recent problems. Ok. I knew about on guy being fired, what is the other problem/s? I wasn't told, but I noticed the guy I knew about wasn't the only one missing.

Then came the next surprise. I didn't know that the boss and his wife had another son, about the same age as the one working now. I didn't know the unknown son is a locksmith. And I found out who is taking the place of the guy I knew was getting fired. He seems all right. I figure he can't be too different from the father and brother. Time will tell. I had one job recently that involved an attempted break-in. I have a couple of pictures I still have to send from the phone to the laptop before I can give you a little peek into my world. I'll try to get it done tomorrow.

 

[day late]

I managed to get it tonight. The customer asked if we would be able to repair the door handle, which had been somehow pulled off the door. This is an industrial grade door handle. VERY heavy duty. Keep that in mind. The first picture is the outside of the rear door on a local eatery. The second one is of the inside of the door. Please note the bolt on the door. That's the only thing that kept it closed. The third photo is of the edge of the door. In all honesty, NO we are not going to be able to repair the door handle or door.

 

[feralferret]

Definitely not repairable. Somebody really wanted in.

 

[Mr Bill]

Jonssen for a pizza?

 

[day late]

Jonssen for a pizza?

Sushi.

 

[larry_minn]

Sushi.

Why not wait till it’s cooked?

 

[day late]

Just a few minutes before bed. My goodness, a number of things in a short time and I work tomorrow. Bad news for the guy I trade the van with. From what I'm told at some point in the past he and his girlfriend rented a place, and they had a dog. He no longer has either. However, it seems that when the left the apartment, the dog left a number of fleas behind. The landlord needed to fumigate and missed peak rental. The unit sat for three months empty. He sued and now this guy has to come up with at least his share of three months rent, to make up for the time the unit sat empty. It must have quite a place. He's talking several months to pay it off. Of course, he is blaming her. I don't know, I wasn't there, I'll make no comment. But by the picture I posted earlier, you can see things are getting a lot more fun.