Comments The Locksmith Journals

day late

day late

money? whats that?
Oh, my stars and garters. The past few days have been something else. To start with the other guy isn't as bad as he first sounded. Turns out he's on the hook for about five grand. His part of a settlement that went over 40k. He has calmed down a bit and isn't as angry as he was. He sees the light at the end of the tunnel now. It's just that it's a long way off. AND they filed a lien against his car until the debt is paid. It could be a lot worse.

My fun and games have been all over the place. I went to buy parts one day and the boss's card was rejected. I was in the middle of a job, so I have to shell out the money to get the parts. Then we had a conversation. It seems that because of other parts I had bought at his request earlier in the month, my card had reached its limit. He bumped it a little and two days later the same thing happened when I bought gas. Except that time, I used his cash from the change I carry. The card reset at the beginning of the month, so I've not had any problems so far. Sunday was slow, but odd, in that I had only three jobs, all car lockouts, and the last two were both Highlanders. Unusual, but it's happened that way before. The oddness continued today when the same lady, with the same Highlander, did the exact same thing, in the exact same parking lot and space. And yes, I charged her the exact same amount.

Another oddball job was for a man who was called "Doctor" by his friend. He had just bought this house as an investment. The doctor should stick to people and forget real estate. Not only was this house in a marginal neighborhood, the previous tenants had removed the doorknob and added a second deadbolt in its place. The inside was pretty dirty and was needing paint and everything else, including having one window replaced in its frame. That makes me wonder. Why re-key and lock the house if the window isn't in the frame?

One of my pet peeve's is the reliance on technology. I have nothing against it. I like my AC and heater. I like the stove, fridge and all the rest of it. I don't like being forced to depend on it. Growing up in hurricane country you learn that it can fail quite easily and at the worst time. This app the boss uses to run the credit cards is not really that user friendly. A number of times I've had to call in recently to get the ladies on the phone to delete something because the customer has changed his mind. It's enough to drive you crazy.

But I do believe the one that took the cake in the past few days had to be what happened yesterday. Naturally the boss wants us to make that good first impression. That means we look neat and so does the van. It needed a cleaning, so I took it to the car wash. The stupid machine ripped off the driver's rearview mirror. Merging left for the past couple of days has been most thrilling. You never know what is just out of eye site when you look just before changing lanes. The boss told me today parts are on the way but won't get here before the 10th and maybe not until the 13th. I do believe I'm going to be driving a bit slower for the next week or so.
 
day late

day late

money? whats that?
I forgot to mention another couple of cases of 'just how dumb can you get'? TWICE yesterday I get to the job and the customer is locked out of their car. Now the car is in the driveway at home. You had to drive it there. You had to use your key to open the front door to your home. Now after tearing apart the house trying to find the keys, the only thing left is the keys must be in the car. I open the car, no keys. This is not my fault. Yes, you still owe me for opening the car, even if the keys are still somewhere inside the house.

In one case the lady did have a reason to complain, sort of. But she should be happy we couldn't do anything. She called to have the car opened, and if the key wasn't there, make her a new one. This is not a problem except the van I drive doesn't do car keys. Our dispatch got the message that came from AAA to help this lady screwed up and they sent the wrong van. I called it in and made arrangements for the other van to come by to make a new key and I left. 1/2 hour after that the lady cancelled the call. I'm guessing the keys showed up.
 
Texican

Texican

Live Free & Die Free.... God Freedom Country....
The oddness continued today when the same lady, with the same Highlander, did the exact same thing, in the exact same parking lot and space. And yes, I charged her the exact same amount.

Consistency works.

dl, you do have way to much fun at work.

Texican....
 
day late

day late

money? whats that?
I am beginning to hate older homes. The past few days I've had a lot of them. Normally the job is just replace the locks or re-key them. Sometimes the locks have been there for quite some time. 20 years or more. These old locks have had a chance to collect dirt and debris for a long, long time. Sometimes they don't like to co-operate. For the past several days THAT'S been my life. You wind up with all kinds of things. Like Dad replaced that lock 15 years ago, but never had it re-keyed to the rest of them and we have no idea of where the key is, kind of thing. Today added a new page.

Long story short, Mom recently passed away. The son is dealing with the estate. He wants ALL exterior doors of Mom's home keyed the same. Mom didn't have all locks of the same type. They can't be keyed all the same. The son was understanding. One door had a set of Schlege locks, the rest are Kwikset. His answer?

Make that deadbolt a Kwikset like the others and leave the doorknob alone. He's selling and that can be the new owners problem. And with the way real estate is turning over here in Florida right now, changing the locks again is going to be a very minor thing.

Then I got interesting. The son has one key for the front door, and none for the others. Mom has a collection of at least fifty keys. I was removing locks while he was trying keys. Then it got really fun. The doorknob on the back has six pins instead of the usual five. THAT'S the only other lock we could find keys for. We have a problem. He doesn't want to replace the knob, so it will be five pin like the others. So now, I have to re-key everything else to match this key. Until today I always thought you couldn't re-key a five pin lock to work on a six pin key, but you can. The funny part is I didn't even realize I had done it, until after I had re-keyed the first lock and it worked. Still, with the age of the locks, it was a long dirty job. Not difficult as in what the heck is this? But more along the line of, just how much dirt is in this thing? Dirt makes screws want to not unscrew. It is tiresome. In the end, everything worked the way it was supposed to work. He was happy and we got paid. That makes the boss happy. That keeps me employed, so I'm happy. Tired, but happy.

But these kind of jobs have been what I've had to do recently. Sure hope it stops.
 
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feralferret

feralferret

Veteran Member
I don't understand why 20 year old locks should be such a pain. I recently replaced some locks that were at least 24 years old on the two doors on my basement entryway. One is an outside door and the other goes into the house from the entryway. I got a really good deal on two new sets (knob & deadbolt) that were all keyed alike. There were 16 keys total included (8 per set). I have been dealing with three keys for the four locks on these doors since I bought the house almost 24 years ago. One key fits them all now, just as all of my locks on both main level doors are keyed alike. I hit the locks with WD40 about every 5 or 6 years. I know graphite is better but I never seem to have any handy when I need it.
 
day late

day late

money? whats that?
feralferret said:
I hit the locks with WD40 about every 5 or 6 years. I know graphite is better but I never seem to have any handy when I need it.
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And YOU win the prize. The greatest favor you can do for your locks is hit them with a little shot of WD-40 every so often and they will last for a very long time. But most people don't do that. I personally wouldn't use graphite. When you get down to molecular level, graphite is granular, just like dirt. It may help in the short run, but in the long haul it compounds the problem.

I know I hope I don't have another day like this one. It started off fine. Just a simple car lockout. The next call, Lake City. I don't want to give away security measures taken by customers, but there is a certain well know company that sells electronic devices. They are VERY protective of their stock. Super-duper high security lock on the storeroom door, Bolts that shoot into the door frame to prevent forced entry. To get through this door in a short time requires extreme measures, like explosives, of a really good chainsaw. The lock to this door has malfunctioned. The boss tells me to inform the manager that we will most likely have to destroy the lock. I spend 45 minutes on the road, I arrive, walk in and introduce myself and I'm told,

"Oh, we got it to work."

Gee, thanks for letting me know. I call my boss and am told I need to call their corporate HQ and explain what happened. I do and they request a picture of the key working in the lock, in case there is a recall on this lock. I send a short video of the guy opening the door. I'm ready to leave for the second time and I have to go back to get some form signed for HQ to prove I was there and inspected the lock. Also state my recommendations. (Get a new lock. This one has already malfunctioned once it will do it again.) Net for the trip, nothing.

I got home, I'm literally halfway through my lunch and I have to got to Melrose. Another 45 minute trip. It was a nice house, on a lake with their own dock. They have some very expensive sliding glass doors that won't open. By the time I get there they have already done most of the work for me. The handle is off the door and I can see they have been trying to open it. They had the right idea but were lacking just one screwdriver. I reach in, turn the latch and open the door. Then, I have to see about possible repair. Not a chance. A crucial piece inside had failed. We have to special order a lock to replace this one. It took 45 minutes to get there, five minutes to open the door and access the lock, and ten minutes to explain it all to the customer. The people that make these doors install their own locks, so each door is different. It turned out the customer was fine waiting for a day or three for a new lock to get here and get it installed.

Two 45 minute trips and I made money on just one of them and none on the other. That was followed by another call, this one local and I have been to this location before. A local restaurant. Last week someone went out and re-keyed the office. The job wasn't done right. I get to go out and fix it. And the error was one of those kind that everybody makes. Nothing to hold against the guy who did the job. My problem was the manager believed something else and wanted me to charge for the service call and the lock repair. On a lock we just worked on less than two weeks ago. I don't like this. This just isn't right. When I arrived the main manager of the place wasn't there. Before I left, she showed up and said she thought she shouldn't have to pay anything for us to come out and fix something we already fixed. (I think she is right, and the error could have only been made when the re-key job was done.) She wants to speak to my manager, which puts me in the middle. My manager doesn't want to talk with her. Here I am in the middle and passing messages both ways, it was agreed this job would be done at no charge.

That's how it's been lately. Strange things that are completely out of my control happening all around me. And the traffic is just getting worse by the day. I'll save that for next time.
 
day late

day late

money? whats that?
Good and bad, good and bad. That's how it's been. Good more often than bad fortunately. I had promised a comment or two of traffic. One thing I have noticed over the years is that it seems everyone who got their driver's license out of a box of Cracker Jacks decides that bad weather is just the right time to practice. Driving around here is bad enough, but when you go out of town you can expect anything. I was once again in Lake City. I know I have a right turn coming up, so I'm in the right lane of a three lane road. All of a sudden, this guy in a white SUV nearly sideswipes me. He missed because I hit the brake and the horn at the same time. But this clown doesn't even enter my lane all the way. He hangs half in my lane, half in his, and does it at 45 MPH. He stays there for about half a block, slowing down at the same time. Needless to say, I am rather loudly and forcefully suggesting he pick a lane. He gets down to about 30, when he decides he is in entirely the wrong place. He speeds up, cuts left and cutting off someone trying to come around him, does the same for the guy in the far left lane. Only to dump out into the left turn lane in the median. Where he was going, where he thought he was going and how he expected to get there driving the way he was, I couldn't guess. I was just glad to see him in the mirror.

Two recent jobs of note. I got up intending to run by Lowes and pick up some new drill bits. While on the way, I get a call. It's about 8:30 and the appointment is for 9:30. Easy job. Unlock a room and install then re-key a knob the customer is going to provide. I call the customer and she says she set the appointment for 9:30 because she has to run to Lowes to get the new knob. Ummm, which Lowes? The same one I'm heading to. I meet her there and we talk about her needs. She picks a knob, and we go to her place. Actually, Mom's place. It seems Mom has recently passed and now two sisters and a brother are taking care of the estate. The brother has given a key to someone else. Now it seems that one bedroom, with A LOT of boxes and other things in it has been re-keyed. Hmmm. Sounds not so good to me. Anyway, I ended up saving the lady money. I opened the door, removed the knob and re-keyed it to the existing key and put it back. Whoever had it re-keyed is going to find out soon enough and in the meantime, EVERYONE has a key, so it's not like the lady is trying to screw her siblings.

The other was just one of those things that happen and when they happen to you, you feel like an idiot. The last call today. I go to the local Bahama Breeze to open a car for a lady and her daughter. It's a quick and easy job and then the search begins. Where are those keys? After about 15 minutes of searching everywhere, the daughter is sent back into the restaurant. The girl, maybe 14, comes back out a couple of minutes later. The keys in her hand. Someone found them under the table. It happens, but man it sure does make you look bad, especially in front of your own kids.
 
day late

day late

money? whats that?
This is just a short one. I've been on for four days and am still resting. In this job sometimes you get an introduction to the customers life that you really don't want. You find out that they don't live like most folks do. Such as the job where the front door was being a problem and I started to look for another way in and I thought the customer was going to take my head off, because I started to go into the back yard, looking for the back door. Why, I have no idea. He just didn't want me back there. Then there was this week. Now I believe The Bible. It teaches that we are all responsible for our own sins. I will not judge someone else because of what they do, mainly because after 67 years there is a lot on my plate that The Lord is going to want an answer for, and I have only one answer. It's because I wanted to do that. That isn't a good answer to give to The Lord, but it is honest. Given that, I don't judge others. I had a re-key job the other day. No big deal, I was in and out as quickly as possible. However it would seem the customer is a newlywed. I saw a wedding picture of his wife and him. His 'wife' is a man and was dressed in a classic wedding gown that would normally be worn by a woman. Not judging, but I was happy to get done with this job.
 
S

summerthyme

Administrator
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day late said:
This is just a short one. I've been on for four days and am still resting. In this job sometimes you get an introduction to the customers life that you really don't want. You find out that they don't live like most folks do. Such as the job where the front door was being a problem and I started to look for another way in and I thought the customer was going to take my head off, because I started to go into the back yard, looking for the back door. Why, I have no idea. He just didn't want me back there. Then there was this week. Now I believe The Bible. It teaches that we are all responsible for our own sins. I will not judge someone else because of what they do, mainly because after 67 years there is a lot on my plate that The Lord is going to want an answer for, and I have only one answer. It's because I wanted to do that. That isn't a good answer to give to The Lord, but it is honest. Given that, I don't judge others. I had a re-key job the other day. No big deal, I was in and out as quickly as possible. However it would seem the customer is a newlywed. I saw a wedding picture of his wife and him. His 'wife' is a man and was dressed in a classic wedding gown that would normally be worn by a woman. Not judging, but I was happy to get done with this job.
Click to expand...
I'm guessing customer #1 has some pretty distinctive plants growing in the back yard. As far as the second, I'm always happy to get far away from mentally ill people...

Summerthyme
 
day late

day late

money? whats that?
I don't know what it is lately, but it seems there are more re-keys than ever before. Over the past few days I've been all over the place doing almost nothing else. One job netted well over $600. It was also one of those jobs that seems simple, until you get there. I've heard it before.

"I'm not sure how many locks there are."

In this case, 14 total. Two were some off brand and couldn't be re-keyed to match the rest of the locks. That was OK because it was a second floor door and rarely used. Out of the rest, two old deadbolts and one doorknob had to be replaced. By the time all was said and done, I'd been there over two hours. The thing of it was these folks had just bought the house and didn't have keys for most of the locks, or the locks were in such bad shape they wouldn't work even with the key.

The one that caught my interest was a job I had today. I had to re-key a house and the customer's name sounded familiar, but I just couldn't place it. I got to work and he answered a phone call. I don't listen to whatever is going on around me when I'm working. I focus on the job. This time something found its way through. I heard him say 'blue moose'. That is a material used by dentists for an accurate bite registration. It's been a long time since I've heard anyone talking dental lingo. After he hung up, I said as much to the customer. I told him how I used to be a dental lab tech. and he looked at me and asked,

"So, you understood everything that was just said?"

I assured him I did, and then as I'm re-keying his locks, we are talking about why a partial try-in didn't go well. It may have been a while, but I think I once again may have pulled a doctors backside out of the fire. The problem he described is a simple and common one. Any removable lab tech who tells you he's never done that, is a lair. The partial frame wasn't seated on the model all the way when the teeth were set. That causes the partial to ride high in the mouth because of excess wax under the framework and throws off the bite. He looked at me with that,

"Why didn't I think of that?"

expression, nodded his head, and I think made a call while I was occupied elsewhere, The funniest part of all was that as I was just finishing up it hit me. This guy was one of the first people to send me work when I started the dental lab over thirty years ago. He sent me work until he thought I was over charging him and when with another lab. It seems he expected me to do unlimited re-sets at either his or the patients' digression, at no additional cost. Sorry, doc. After I set and then did the first re-set and/or adjustment at one price, all following re-sets at going to be charged. Especially when I re-set the same denture four times to satisfy the two of you. He didn't like that. Still, he got me my start those many years ago and I'm happy to see he has made such a success of himself.

No, I didn't bother to mention it.
 
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day late

day late

money? whats that?
I've said before that if you stay in this business long enough, you'll see it all. These past few days have been unbelievable. As has been the case recently, there have been a lot of re-keys. Some of them long distance trips. Last Saturday, i had a total of 13 jobs sent my way. One cancelled (a car lockout.) just before I got there. But I got the other 12. I spent most of the day driving, and surprisingly, every job was quick and easy. It was the day of Corolla's. I had to open three of them. Twice on house lockouts it was proven that The Lord was looking over my shoulder. In each case it was a smart key lock. In one case I was able to use the air bags to open the door. On the other job, the smart key was the deadbolt and that means find another way of drill. The window leading into the girl's bedroom was unlocked. I pulled the screen, her boyfriend climbed in and calmed the dog. Then opened the front door. Didn't have to drill either of them.

Everything was fine until today. The boss wants to expand into Lake City, so first thing this morning, I have to drive up there. It seems the internet provider wants proof of a storefront or some such. I head up there, 45 minutes one way. I sat on my hands for a little over an hour while he and the manager take pictures and videos. The I drive 45 minutes back. Lovely way to spend the morning. It was the job after that, that things went sideways.

I've mentioned Gardina Gardens before. The apartment complex we won't go to after dark, and not at all if I can help it. This house is a couple of blocks from there. Four-bedroom house with deadbolts on every bedroom door. Most of the doors are open as I walk through the place going to the door I have to work on. There are multiple men passed out on beds in each room as I go down the hallway. It is 1 o'clock in the afternoon. The guy has two keys for his room. Both are broken. Part of one key is still in the lock. Thank The Lord it was simple lock. I had it off the door, rekeyed and back on the door in no time. The guy was willing to pay, but I didn't have the card swiper and it doesn't work with my phone anyway. Also the numbers on the card have worn off so much, you can't read them. I call it in and a way is found for him to get the card number for some app that he has. You may have gotten the impression that drugs were being used in this house. I would say you were right. I sat there for half an hour waiting to get payment, while he played with his phone. He stopped for a minute, got up went into the kitchen for something and promptly collapsed on the floor. Out cold. I went to check him. The only other two people awake in the house were trying to decide if they should call an ambulance. I was reaching out for him when his eyes popped open. I asked if he was alright and told him he had fallen. He said something I didn't understand and then one of the guys there sort of shouldered me out of the way. I went outside and called it in. The boss wanted me to go back in and get payment for the job I had done. I explained the kind of neighborhood it was as well as what I has seen inside. He told me to just leave. I can't help but wonder if the customer lived. But he had people there and I was just in the way. I left.
 
day late

day late

money? whats that?
It has been something else lately. The boss wants another office in Lake City. Okay, that makes sense. It's close to I-10 which runs from Jacksonville to Houston. But it seems his internet service provider requires proof of a "store front" before allowing advertising for that area. Something like that. At any rate on three separate occasions I had to run up there so they could shoot videos and pictures of one of our vans actually in Lake City. It should have been simple and only done once. But the boss has gone full blown Hollywood director, and we shot the video's three times. Each time I run up there it's half a day. An hour to get there, two or three staying out of the way while he walks around with his phone doing his thing, then an hour back. What the heck. I'm getting paid to sit around and do nothing with the boss standing right there. I can live with that. It's boring, but I can live with it.

The re-keys keep coming, which is good. The boss has always complained that I need to get faster on doing them. I agree. But if they don't give you the job in the first place, it's kinda hard to get good at it. One of the nice things about it is helping the ladies on the phone learn how to milk as much info from the customer as they can, before they even send us the dispatch. Like the one recently where the lady got the customer to admit he didn't know how many locks he had to be rekeyed and it turned out to be 12. At least the lady gave me a heads-up that the job was going to be more than quick and easy.

But what has really taken the cake is when my unheeded warnings finally turned around and bit the boss in the butt. That van I drive has had 'little' problems for a long, long time. I kept telling the boss, 'We need to get that checked.' and he promised he would. Well, that little van is currently sitting in the shop. It is going to be there for a week. I'm driving the big van. You know, the one that makes the car keys. The car keys I was never taught how to make. The same car keys that bring in a lot of money with very little investment, that I can't do.

Boss, you should have gotten that van checked out when I told you. The other guy I share with got it checked. He told me there was an entire standard letter sized sheet of codes for things wrong with the van. This is gonna cost him.

I almost forgot. For the third time in eight years I ran into a car I couldn't open. A newer model Camero. I kept grabbing the handle with the rod but couldn't pull it back far enough to get it to open the door. I had to turn it over to the boss's son because he had the big van and the special picks for cars. I would like another shot at it though. After thinking about it, I should have come in under the door handle and hooked upwards. Then the rod wouldn't have been able slip off the thing. Well, next time.
 
feralferret

feralferret

Veteran Member
day late said:
After thinking about it, I should have come in under the door handle and hooked upwards. Then the rod wouldn't have been able slip off the thing. Well, next time.
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Live and learn..Your mind can figure out many things given sufficient time and lack of stress. You do the best you can in the moment and then learn from it. I never got very good with a slim jim, but then again I never received any real training with it either.

It's remarkable how important preventative maintenance really is, and how bad it can bite you if ignored. It likely would have been much cheaper on several levels if the boss had not ignored you on the van issues.
 
day late

day late

money? whats that?
I should have remembered. There is always the other side of the coin. I am beat. True sticking me with the 'car key' van was a bit of a waste. What I forgot is that by being down one van, I get hit with more jobs. When I got the van from one of the boss's sons, the dash said I had 18 miles until walk. The first thing I did was run down to the station and top off. Over $80. Then today, I was hit with 10 jobs. A normal day is 4 or 5. I had a 9 AM appointment and they asked if that could be moved to 8:30. It was close by and an easy job so, okay. I head out at about 8:15. By the time I got back it was 1:20. I had just enough time to change into a dry shirt and wolf down a sandwich before hitting the road again. I was back and forth across town all day long. The part that really got to me was I would go to the southwest side of town. The next call is in the northwest. Number three is within blocks of number one. Number four is likewise close to number two. Almost every call I got was within a five block radius of a previous call, just not the same area as the last one. I passed a car that rolled into a ditch sometime last night at least five times today. Then to top off the day I get to go to Ichetucknee Springs. A state park. Forty-five minutes away. The customer has both his credit card and phone locked in the car. He got the park ranger to call us.

When I get there, the rangers who work there are getting ready to close the gate for the night. They admit the guy is there, but aren't sure where he is. This now involes spending another ten minutes or so cruising the parking lot looking for him. I finally found him, got him and the family back on the road and drove forty-five minutes back to Gainesville. The kid I got the van from is picking it up in the morning, so I need to top it off tonight. Last stop I make before getting home at about 8:20 PM was the gas station. Another $50 goes in the tank.

Yeah, kinda busy today.
 
feralferret

feralferret

Veteran Member
A couple of years ago, I got out the door without my keys. I had given my spare door key to my step daughter, so I was screwed since the knob was locked. That was an expensive learning experience. If I had realized how easy it was to pop the door open (He used a small airbag), I would have forced my way into my storage shed, grabbed a jumbo screwdriver, and saved myself a lot of time and money. I now ALWAYS lock the deadbolt when I leave since the door security without the deadbolt is a joke.
 
day late

day late

money? whats that?
Twofer's happen once in a while, and you never know what kind they will be. Usually, the jobs are paid with debit, credit or cash. Yesterday, it was a bit different. I guess it's a sign we are moving up in the world. Twice I had jobs that I had to call in to someone else and report when I started, again when I finished, and provide a list of work that was done and pictures of before and after. If parts or anything out of the ordinary came up I had to call it in and have the use of parts allowed, considering it would be and additional expense.

The first was interesting since it was at the bank I go to, to make the weekly deposits. The tellers know me. So, after making the deposit the lady looks up and ask's if she can do anything else for me. I tell her,

"Actually, right now I'm here to work. I'm told there is a filing cabinet you need to get opened."

Her eye's got real big and what followed was something along the lines of,

"YOU'RE here to do that? Come on back here. I had to drive home without my purse last night and back here this morning, because it's locked inside that thing."

As you may imagine there was a bit more to the conversation than that, but that's the short of it. About ten minutes later she had her purse and I was haggling on the phone with the people who hired us to do the job. We got the paperwork straightened out and our office deals with theirs for payment, so I'm good. That job was about six blocks from my house. Not too bad.

The second one was one of those jobs that are so quick and easy, it's almost a crime to charge for it, BUT it was also at the Publix in Lake City. I drove 45 minutes one way. I met with the manager and got the paperwork started. The mortise lock in the door had moved. I straighten it out, tighten the set screw, and then wait ten minutes for the manager to come back and try the lock. He checked it, pronounced it cured and I finished off the paperwork on the phone. Then drive 45 minutes back home again. I didn't work four minutes on that job. The boss pulled down over $350.

Then we had the second twofer, today. This wasn't a good thing, but it does go to show just how different families can be. In both cases I was sent to do a little work on two different homes that have just recently had their owner pass away and now the family is closing the estate. In both cases, the daughters were the ones I was dealing with. On the second job the sisters were quite polite to each other. And I mean the family kind of polite. Not something that is done through gritted teeth. You could tell these two cared for each other. The asked the right questions and listened to the answers. They asked about things like alternatives and upgrades. All the while walking around though 'Mom's' house and things. Very pleasant ladies to deal with.

All I will say about the first two sisters is, I'm glad they aren't mine. They couldn't agree with either each other or the needs/desires of non-present siblings. I was glad to get done with that job. Just goes to prove the wisdom of my parents. They settled all issues about their property a long time ago.
 
day late

day late

money? whats that?
You know they are out there. And it seems in this line, you run into them a lot more often. I'm talking about the airheads. I don't mean the average run-of-the-mill airhead. I'm talking about the ones who have a problem with even the simplest concepts. To make matters worse, they often are so out of it they believe they are the only one who gets it. Case in point came up today. It was a simple job. Go to the location and re-key one lock. This is one of those jobs that is almost a waste of my time, but they're paying me so I'm on it.

The lady has a deadbolt on the door leading into the garage. ALL the locks on the house are keyed the same. But this one lock fights with her every time she tries to use it. To me, the answer is simple. You can order X number of doorknobs and deadbolts from the manufacturer, all keyed the same, when building a home. But just like when I was still doing dental work. I would sometimes look at the doctor and tell him/her,

"Yes doctor, I can do that. But you have to understand what you want falls under the category of 'special services'. And 'special services' come with special prices. Are you sure you want me to do this?"

In truth, the manufacturer just looks at the batch number and pulls what he needs from inventory. They can't change those machines keying those locks after making each one. They will run a batch of a few hundred and then mix them with other batches just before shipping. Special orders are pulled, bundled, and shipped. At twice the price for the extra service. It's cheaper to put random locks on and then have most of them re-keyed. Whoever re-keyed this lock used at least one pin that was a little too short. That was what made this key hang up in this lock. All I had to do was open it up, find the pin or pins that were off and replace them. Then the same key should work fine.

Nope. She had already made up her mind. Since the lock wasn't working correctly with this key, then the lock must be re-keyed, TO A DIFFERENT KEY. I spend 15 minutes trying to convince her there was no need to have one key for just that lock, and another for the rest of the house. She wasn't having any of it. Okay. I re-keyed the lock and left her with the new ones for that lock.

But the worst airhead of late was another lady, the day before. I had finished a re-key job for her and she asked if I would take a look at her sliding glass doors. She wanted a lock installed on them so she could open it from the outside in the event she ever accidently got locked out. That has happened before. The locks on the glass door get old and worn. You close the slider a little hard and the lock drops into position. I've seen it happen. Twice in the same day to one girl a few years ago. I did my best to explain to her that the locks she wanted are installed at the factory. However, if you put a key in a pill bottle and hide it in the back yard, you don't need to either buy new doors or pay someone an outrageous amount of money to install locks. If the slider locks you out, just grab the bottle, get the key and let yourself in by the front door. It was too much for her. She kept telling me that the key for the front door wouldn't do her any good on the sliders.

'But ma'am you just walk around front and let yourself in'.

'That won't do any good getting this glass door open from the outside'.

'But ma'am that doesn't matter if you let yourself in through the front door'.

'But it still doesn't open this door from the outside'.

After a short time I gave up and told her that we could special order the parts and do an install, but I had no idea of what pricing would be on something like this. She accepted that and said she would call the office about it, later.

Some people. You just lay it all out there in plain English and could even draw pictures, but they still just don't get it.
 
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day late

day late

money? whats that?
I do believe there are a few brownie points headed my way. If I'm working, the end of the day is 8 P.M. Yesterday was one of my days off. At about 8:20 last night I got a plea for help from one of the bosses' sons. He was stuck on a door for an hour and nothing he did worked. He said he heard I knew a thing or two and gave me a call. I went over there and had the door open in about two minutes. He didn't have a tool that I do, and it is one of those tools I made for myself. I did make about 1/2 dozen of them for everyone a few years ago, but the only person left here now besides me who got one it the bosses other son. Before the manager asked this morning, I was already planning on making another one for him. But hey, if they are going to pay me for doing it, so much the better.

I will say that what happened wasn't the second son's fault. The customer had the key, it just didn't turn the lock. This is mechanical failure. That's a maintenance issue. The customer can get his money back from the people who run the complex since they didn't maintain the property and he had to call us to get him in. Secondly, with mechanical failure, you can't blame the locksmith if his normal tricks don't work. I think the boss will be happy.
 
Meemur

Meemur

Voice on the Prairie / FJB!
day late said:
You know they are out there. And it seems in this line, you run into them a lot more often. I'm talking about the airheads. I don't mean the average run-of-the-mill airhead. I'm talking about the ones who have a problem with even the simplest concepts. To make matters worse, they often are so out of it they believe they are the only one who gets it. Case in point came up today. It was a simple job. Go to the location and re-key one lock. This is one of those jobs that is almost a waste of my time, but they're paying me so I'm on it.

The lady has a deadbolt on the door leading into the garage. ALL the locks on the house are keyed the same. But this one lock fights with her every time she tries to use it. To me, the answer is simple. You can order X number of doorknobs and deadbolts from the manufacturer, all keyed the same, when building a home. But just like when I was still doing dental work. I would sometimes look at the doctor and tell him/her,

"Yes doctor, I can do that. But you have to understand what you want falls under the category of 'special services'. And 'special services' come with special prices. Are you sure you want me to do this?"

In truth, the manufacturer just looks at the batch number and pulls what he needs from inventory. They can't change those machines keying those locks after making each one. They will run a batch of a few hundred and then mix them with other batches just before shipping. Special orders are pulled, bundled, and shipped. At twice the price for the extra service. It's cheaper to put random locks on and then have most of them re-keyed. Whoever re-keyed this lock used at least one pin that was a little too short. That was what made this key hang up in this lock. All I had to do was open it up, find the pin or pins that were off and replace them. Then the same key should work fine.

Nope. She had already made up her mind. Since the lock wasn't working correctly with this key, then the lock must be re-keyed, TO A DIFFERENT KEY. I spend 15 minutes trying to convince her there was no need to have one key for just that lock, and another for the rest of the house. She wasn't having any of it. Okay. I re-keyed the lock and left her with the new ones for that lock.

But the worst airhead of late was another lady, the day before. I had finished a re-key job for her and she asked if I would take a look at her sliding glass doors. She wanted a lock installed on them so she could open it from the outside in the event she ever accidently got locked out. That has happened before. The locks on the glass door get old and worn. You close the slider a little hard and the lock drops into position. I've seen it happen. Twice in the same day to one girl a few years ago. I did my best to explain to her that the locks she wanted are installed at the factory. However, if you put a key in a pill bottle and hide it in the back yard, you don't need to either buy new doors or pay someone an outrageous amount of money to install locks. If the slider locks you out, just grab the bottle, get the key and let yourself in by the front door. It was too much for her. She kept telling me that the key for the front door wouldn't do her any good on the sliders.

'But ma'am you just walk around front and let yourself in'.

'That won't do any good getting this glass door open from the outside'.

'But ma'am that doesn't matter if you let yourself in through the front door'.

'But it still doesn't open this door from the outside'.

After a short time I gave up and told her that we could special order the parts and do an install, but I had no idea of what pricing would be on something like this. She accepted that and said she would call the office about it, later.

Some people. You just lay it all out there in plain English and could even draw pictures, but they still just don't get it.
Click to expand...
She's probably never even heard of a key rock or putting a key in a pill bottle.

1690486460511.png 1690486546809.png
 
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