Comments The Locksmith Journals

day late

money? whats that?
This was kind of stupid, but something good may come out of it. First of all, the meeting was delayed from Tues. to tonight. No reason given and this time everyone is to have their cameras on. As usual the actual start of the meeting is about ten minutes late. Some people forget, others drop out for no reason, all that sort of thing. When it does start, it's all about the survey we had to take. And for the next 30 minutes we get to hear how the survey has more or less proven what we already know. We work and play well together. A little bit about the company's future and the chance at grown and advancement. (Lot of good that does me.) A little bit of chit chat and its over. A near total waste of 45 minutes.

The one good thing is the boss's son asked if I might be available tomorrow to work on a plane. It seems some of the compartments inside have the tubular type locks (the kind I've recently been playing around with) and the owner doesn't know where the keys are. This will be a first in two ways. It is the first time I've had anything to do with opening a plane. Also it would seem this is going to be even more special. I asked the boss's son what time he wanted me to meet him at the airport. He said the plane isn't there, but it is nearby. That means it's either in storage somewhere near the airport, or a private strip. Either way it means the owner is going to have even more money, so screwing up is the last thing you want to do. Better to walk away and let somebody else take the job than possibly open yourself to a law suit.
 

day late

money? whats that?
Perhaps its in an impound lot?
I got the address a little while ago. TECHNICALLY it's not at the airport. It is in a series of private hangers, on private land, on the far side of the airport. Either way, the dude owns a plane. He's got money. Don't screw this up. I have also been advised that the son I agreed to help out on my day off, has turned this into 'show and tell'. Since it seems I'm the only one who has used these picks and gotten them to work, he has invited any and all available smiths to drop by and watch, learn how it is done. Yeah, right. Don't screw this up or I'll never live it down. So I'm off to the airport in about an hour. I think I'll be stopping by the American Boy's Club on the way home from this one.
 

day late

money? whats that?
Some days, I just don't know what to say. I will say I am so happy I bought those tubular lock picks. They have already paid for themselves. It was SO funny, at least to me. By the time I got to the airport the son had been working on the lock for several minutes with the tubular pick in the van. As I walked up he was still trying the pick in the lock. He looked over his shoulder as he continued to work the pick in the lock, and said,

"I think we are going to have to use your picks. This one isn't working."

No sooner had he said the word 'working' than the lock turned. The customer was happy, but there were two more locks to pick. I went to the far side of the plane and had that lock picked in a couple of minutes. The newest new guy. Daniel, was working on the second lock I picked and doing it wrong. I advised him on the way that works for me and he tried it, but it was a first time try. He is battling between what he knows and what he doesn't know. Time will fix that.
 
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day late

money? whats that?
What do you know, trouble in paradise already. They got Daniel to replace Mike. It seems during the time I was laid off, Daniel was hired, trained and worked a bit, before returning to school. I've met him once, on a job, and I don't think we said five sentences to each other. I don't know anything about him, except what was said in the company meeting when he started up. The boss likes him, and it seems the manager likes him as well. The son? Not so much. He thinks this guy is just a little bit out there. A good smith, but if you engage him in casual conversation you'll soon find yourself discussing the metaphysical realities of the cosmos. The son is 23 and more interested in fast cars and faster women. He also seems to believe this guy really shouldn't have to go to college to learn acupuncture. Again, not my business. I don't have a dog in this fight. Time to step back and let nature take it's course. I swear some times working around here is like having a front row seat to a meeting of "The Harper Valley P.T.A."
 

day late

money? whats that?
So, working just two days a week now, the stories become fewer, but we do have two of them.

The first doesn't involve me but does include the manager and the boss's son. I wasn't there but everything they told me rings true. It seems that for whatever reason the local ATF office could not get into their safe holding all of the drugs that are being held in evidence. Gainesville is a small town. They don't need a big room to hold all of that kind of thing. Just a really good safe. They called the company. We are not safe crackers, we are locksmiths. AND this was the ATF. Security on their safe is a bit higher than most. In the end It was necessary to cut a hole in the safe to be able to access the evidence. THAT is where the fun came in. From what they tell me, it took FOUR HOURS to cut the hole and remove said evidence from the safe. They were draining batteries for the grinder constantly and keeping the van idling so they could recharge them. And gas for the vans is getting pretty pricy. All under the watchful eyes of our local ATF agents. The amazing part is they went out and bought one of those really expensive super-duper diamond coated blades for the angle grinder to cut through the safe wall. It didn't do squat. Next, they tried another specialty type blade with about the same results. They then got down to the cheapy five-in-a-package blades. They worked wonders. A 5 X 8 inch hole was cut, evidence removed, and all was good. I still don't know how much they charged for that job, but I want to thank the American tax payers for helping to keep the company going and me employed.

The second job was nothing special, except in the way it affected me. It was about 9 P.M. I get off at 10. I get a call to open a car. Not a big deal. EXCEPT this job was in a place called Lake City. That is 40 minutes north of me if I'm on the interstate. So that is over an hour in travel time, both ways, alone. Not to mention the time needed to open the car and take payment. I was supposed to get off at 10. I got back to Gainesville somewhere around 10:50. I then had to pick up the boss's son and he had to give me a ride back to my place. I finally got home close to 11:30. If you notice the time difference, that can be explained. As I left the job and was headed home, when I got close to the onramp for I-75, I noticed traffic on I-75 has become a parking lot. This means finding a different route home taking back roads and dealing with numerous speed zones and traffic lights. I called the son and asked what he wanted to do. The van I'm driving doesn't go on-line until 10 A.M. It is possible for me to go home and have the son pick up the van in the morning. That way we both get to bed at a decent hour. Nope. It seems the son doesn't actually own a car. He drives the company van. That leaves no other choice, I have to pick him up and get him to drive me home.

Sometimes the fun and joy of this job do seem to be far, far away.
 

day late

money? whats that?
Goodness, goodness, goodness. I hate it when things like this happen. But they do happen. It worked out well for the boss's son but not so well for me. AND it's not his fault, it was his good luck. Saturday evening he got called to a place called Ginnie Springs. I've been there many times. It is a sort of park/camping area/scuba diving place. People lock themselves out of cars and RV's all the time out there. It is also about 40 minutes from my house, one way. I've even had dogs left inside the RV get excited when mommy and daddy left fido in the RV so they could go for a walk. Fido gets excited, jumps up against the door, his paw hits the handle of the deadbolt and locks them out. All in a days work.

The reason this was the son's "lucky day" was he was sent to cut a new car key for someone who had lost theirs. Doing that is a time consuming job. But normally it can be handled in less than an hour. He called me at about 8:30 to let me know he might be late picking me up so I could take him home and get the van for today. No big deal. It's happened before. In this case when the son got there the first people to flag him down saw the word 'locksmith' on the van and flagged him down. They thought he was the locksmith they had called. Nope, he was there for a different customer. But hey, ya can't turn down a quick and easy job like that. Especially since it is out of town so the price goes up. So sorry for the other locksmith but he got there first and that was all the customer was interested in. So, the son takes care of them. Then finds the folks who called him. I won't go into a lot of details but between the type of vehicle and a shortage of supplies, the son had to improvise to get the job done. By this time he is already an hour late in picking me up. Then someone else comes out of the dark with the question.

"Are you a locksmith?"

Now he has another car to open. In short it was planned for him to pick me up at 9:30 so we could go to his place, drop him off and I get the van for today. We should have both been sitting at home by about 10 P.M. In fact, he picked me up at about quarter to 1 and after dropping him off, letting him clean out all of the crap piled up in the van from different jobs, then getting back home, I got to bed a little after 2 A.M. A profitable day for him, good for the company and not so good for my sleep. Ah well, every day is an adventure.
 

day late

money? whats that?
Yep. Every day an adventure. After I got the van, I sat at home all day long Sunday and did nothing. My wife was just starting to get supper ready when I got my first call. I had to go to a town called Melrose. A lady was locked out of her home and her daughter called in the job. Melrose is 45 minutes away, one way. I told my wife that I would re-heat supper when I got back in a couple of hours. It's happened before. No big deal, but my wife was not happy about it. And this is one of those jobs where you know The Lord is looking after you. The lady had those unpickable Smart Key locks on both the front and back doors. We went to the back door first. The lock had been properly installed and I shouldn't have had any other choice but to drill the thing. BUT I always exhaust all possible options before I do anything that may cost the customer more money, like drilling. In this case, the lady had turned the handle on the deadbolt, but she didn't turn it all the way. I was able to lever the bolt out of the way, bypass the doorknob and get her in with no damage. She was happy, I was happy, and the job was done in a very short time. And while looking round we discovered that the reason she was locked out was dead batteries in the front door keypad deadbolt. Easy fix, just replace the batteries and she even had extra batteries, Before I got back home, I had another job waiting for me and that was followed by two more. Needless to say supper was quite cold by the time I got home. But it is what it is. So I get up this morning. I go on duty at 10 A.M. At 10:30 I get a call which is an appointment for 3 P.M. It is a rental and the customer is a real estate office. At 10:45 I call to confirm the appointment and I am told by the office that they have decided to cancel for now, maybe later. (Given the job type they probably figured out that the people at maintenance could do it.) I sat at home all day until 6:30 when I got my second call. I have to get a young lady into her apartment. I'm on the way. I get to within three blocks of the complex and the office calls. She found the key. There is no need for our services. Cancel the call. So two calls today and two cancels. BOY am I glad that because of SS I work by the hour and not by commission any more. I sat home all day and got paid for it. It's like opening things for cops. When you do that you have to ask yourself, "WHAT is wrong with this job?" Is it any wonder why I'm having the time of my life right now?
 
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day late

money? whats that?
Oh boy, like they say, it was deja vu all over again. But this time not as bad. I got the van tonight as usual. At about 3 I texted the boss's son telling him I hope tonight wouldn't be like last Saturday. He answered he shared my hopes. Neither of us wanted to be up that late again. Then, shortly before pick-up time, he gets a call. You guessed it. Back out to Ginnie Springs for some reason. The was at about 8. Half an hour to get there, do the job no matter how long it takes, and half an hour to get back. At about 9 I texted the lady handling the phones asking if she knew if he was still there. I mean if he's busy disturbing him only slows down the work. She never answered, but within a short time he told me he was on his way. Thank The Lord, tonight's pick up was ALMOST on time. He was about 5 or 10 minutes behind. But I'm telling you, I was sweating it there for awhile. So, tomorrow is the next adventure. Lets see what awaits.
 
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Texican

Live Free & Die Free.... God Freedom Country....
dl,

Those few days of work per week are definitely eating up time.

Texican....
 

day late

money? whats that?
dl,

Those few days of work per week are definitely eating up time.

Texican....

I don't know about eating up time, but every day is an adventure. Sunday was actually a slow day and nothing to really talk about. Just one easy job. Today? That's another story. First thing out of the box, I get a call and I already know this one is going to be a bit pricey. The customer wants five locks rekeyed and he doesn't have a key for any of them. It's $26 a lock to do that. The boss says charge another $89 for the service call. We are now over $200. Well, this kind of thing happens quite often. Someone buys a house, and they don't want even the real estate agent to have a key, so rekey everything. That's not the case this time. In this case the customer went to a pool hall/bar yesterday. When he gets there the guard at the door wants to inspect his backpack for weapons and that sort of thing. No problem. He has to leave the backpack at the front, to be collected when he leaves. Again, no problem. I don't know what happened, but he told me the reason for the lump on his nose was because of someone trying to steal his dog. There was a fight, and he didn't fare so well. But he still has the dog, so I guess he won. He was 'requested' to leave, which he did. But when he went to get the backpack, it wasn't in the same place he left it. He inspects his backpack. His keys are missing. When he gets home, he has to break into his own home. He actually did that with very little damage. We chat while I'm working and the reason for the theft of his keys becomes much clearer to me. It seems that he and his roommate are shall we say, 'self-employed'? They are in the business of making and selling cannabis gummies. From what he told me they are quite strong. He recommended if I ever tried them, DO NOT attempt to drive or operate machinery for a few hours after indulging. The results could be not what you want. He said he asked a guy who happened to be nearby during the fight if he knew what happened and asked if he knew what happened to his keys. The guy simply said NO and walked away. Now if someone asked me that question, I would want to know what they were talking about. This guy didn't. He just walked away. Hmmm, perhaps we have an idea of who went through the customers backpack and why they did it.

You see the strangest things in this job. Much of it quite amusing. I love my job.
 
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day late

money? whats that?
I am beginning to believe that Ginnie Springs is my nemesis. The boss's son was supposed to pick me up at 9:30 this evening. I texted him around 6. He told me he had been at Ginnie Springs all day. It is 11:32 P.M. right now and we just got off the phone. He will pick me up tomorrow at 8 A.M. and we will go back out to Ginnie Springs to finish one of the jobs he had tonight. THEN I get the van and have to work from10 to 10. The manager is going to have fun working out hours this week for sure. I'll let you guys know how things work out sometime tomorrow.
 

day late

money? whats that?
Yep! My nemesis. The boss's son picked me up at 8:30. We when to Ginnie Springs for him to do a car key. Before he is halfway through, someone else walks up and wants to know if he can do one for them. Sure, no problem. He's about 2/3 the way though that one and another guy walks up asking the same question. You can't carry a blank for every car made, so you mostly carry the most common types. We get to the third car, a truck actually, and this one has a key we don't have a blank for. So, while the son and the customer are talking about what can be done, I decide to take a walk to see if I can find the lost keys. I mean up to this point I haven't done a thing except for take up space. It is about 1/4 mile from the truck to the main road leading into the park. I take my time looking carefully and nothing. I turn around and had back and when I'm about halfway there the son comes up to me and says,

"We found the keys. They were laying in the grass near the truck."

That's good for both the customer and us. He doesn't have to shell out about $300 and we finally get out of there. We arrived at 9. By the time we got out, it was after 12:30. That place is profitable, but on a weekend like this one, it is a royal pain in the neck.
 

day late

money? whats that?
So, we notch up another LEO. Well, sort of. Just got back from my one and only call today, which is surprising for a holiday weekend. I had to drive to Lake City to get a lady and her mother-in-law into the house. They stepped outside to walk the dog and after locking the door, they closed it behind them only to find the keys were inside. Her phone was also inside. But this is a case where technology saved the day. She has an Apple watch that is linked to her phone. She used the watch to call hubby who is a cop and at the time, on patrol. He called us. 45 minutes to get there, less than five minutes to open the door, 10 to 15 minutes taking care of payment and chit chat. Then 45 minutes back to the house. All is good, but it just goes to show, this kind of thing happens to almost everyone.
 

day late

money? whats that?
So, we had an interesting thing happen this past weekend. On Saturday I got a couple of appointments for today. The fun part was they are in completely different parts of town. AND both were scheduled for 3 this afternoon. I'm good at what I do, but I can't be in two different places at the same time. On top of that both jobs are listed as commercial. That means multiple doors and locks. Some of those are sure to be industrial, which are harder to work on. Both jobs want multiple keys for each door. That means each job is going to take hours to get done. The manager always says if there is a problem we can't handle, call him. I did. My answer from him?

"I'm off. Call dispatch."

Thanks boss. Instead, when I got the van from the son on Saturday night I talked with him. He said he would talk to his Dad and the manager. By mid-afternoon yesterday I still hadn't heard anything, so I called dispatch. I had to leave a message. about three hours go by before I hear back. I'm told one of the jobs has been rescheduled for Tuesday, but not which one. I speak with the son again and he tells me he'll make sure the dispatch I get on the phone is updated and he will go with me to help out. Which I very much appreciate. BTW, do we have enough blanks to cut that many keys in the van and do you know which brand of blanks we are going to need? He knows which kind of blanks we are going to need, but doesn't think we have enough on the van. Not to worry. More have been ordered and should be here in time to do the job. I'm getting a sinking feeling about this. But we'll find out this afternoon.

However on the bright side, I had only two jobs yesterday. The first was to open a car. Nice young couple. They were not only happy that I got there quickly, but also that the job was done in no time. So pleased in fact they gave me a $20 tip. The second job wasn't a problem. Opening a home for some folks. The lock was begging to be picked and turned in just a few seconds. The only problem with that job was once again I get to make a trip 45 minutes north to Lake City. With the way gas prices are going, I'm sure glad someone else is paying for it.
 

day late

money? whats that?
I called it. Went to pick up the son at the appointed time. Just before that I texted and asked if the blank keys had been delivered. He said not until 3. That was the time I was supposed to be at the job. But ok. We can be a few minutes late with no problem. It is twenty minutes from the son's apartment to the boss's house. I'm thinking pick him up at 2:30, get to the father's home at about 2:50, wait for 10 minutes for the blanks and get to the job about 15 minutes late. Not a big deal. The son is napping when I get there. He doesn't get to the van until 2:55. He calls Dad. The blanks have not arrived. Dad tells son call local hardware stores. See if they can sell us the blanks. We need 60 of them. He is willing to pay .30 each. Several stores later only one has the number we need. They won't go below .60 a blank. So now the job is delayed until tomorrow at 12:30. I'm not working tomorrow. And UPS doesn't get to Dad's house until 3. I'm glad I'm out of this one.
 
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day late

money? whats that?
dl,

You lead such an entertaining life.

Texican....

It keeps me from becoming bored. I failed to mention that when I tried to pick up the son today, when he came out of his apartment he was on crutches. Gainesville has started leaving those electric skateboard with handlebars type of scooters around town for people to use. He uses them a lot. After all he doesn't own a car. I was on a job one night when he came cruising up behind me. WELL, he was trying to cross a median or something like that and didn't see a small log in the grass. He took a tumble and sprained his ankle pretty badly. He's in a soft cast but in pain. I feel sorry for him. I'm off tomorrow which means he has to go back to the church and cut those 60 keys by himself. Honestly, if he calls I'll help him out. After all he was going to do the same for me. If you want good neighbors, you have to be neighborly. But I'm not the only locksmith available, so I might not hear from him. We'll have to see what happens.
 

day late

money? whats that?
Curiouser and curiouser. A day or two ago I got a call from the manager. He wanted to know exactly what are my limitations on wage earning according to SS. He wanted to know exactly what my limits are on the number of hours I can work. Once again I told him, it isn't the number of hours I work they care about. It's the amount of money I make. At $10 an hour I can work no more than 35 hours a week. Obviously at $5 an hour I could work 70 hours. But I'm not going to do that. Then he starts talking about changing the schedule again, getting me to work more hours. I'm ok with more hours, as long as it doesn't cause me to lose bennies. But one thing I have noticed over the years is that every time they talk about me doing more hours, it means someone is about to get fired. And here is where it starts to get fun. We have to swap out the vans at the end of our shifts. Right now I work two 12 hour shifts a week. That's 24 hours. That leaves another 14 hours I am available. But if shifts are 12 hours long, and according to him, I will work 4 days this week and three days next week, that goes over my limit. Also, if they shorten my shift to keep it in the 35 hour range, that means I'm going to have to swap the van to someone else before the 12 hour mark. So somebody else is going to get the short end of the stick when it comes to hours. I mean imagine working 5 days a week, but on two of those days you only work about two hours. This is not going to fly so well me thinks. I'm so happy that I'm not the boss and I don't have to worry about any of that.
 

day late

money? whats that?
Just a brief update. I was right. One of our smiths just got fired. Too bad, he was a nice guy with a great sense of humor. But a lousy sense of direction. The manager told me he got fired after his fifth accident with the van he drove. He was with us less than a year. No wonder the schedule is getting changed again.
 

day late

money? whats that?
Heard from the manager again and spoke with the son when I picked up the van. Not only did the guy get into another accident with it, when the manager picked it up from him, he had to tie the hood down in order to drive it. This is a Ford Transit. It's got a small hood to begin with. I haven't seen the damage, but it must have been something. The son also filled in a blank. He told me that right now the vehicle insurance is "Hanging by a thread right now." Yeah, I don't see where the boss and manager had much of a choice.
 

FireDance

TB Fanatic
Heard from the manager again and spoke with the son when I picked up the van. Not only did the guy get into another accident with it, when the manager picked it up from him, he had to tie the hood down in order to drive it. This is a Ford Transit. It's got a small hood to begin with. I haven't seen the damage, but it must have been something. The son also filled in a blank. He told me that right now the vehicle insurance is "Hanging by a thread right now." Yeah, I don't see where the boss and manager had much of a choice.
Good grief. How DOES someone have that many accidents in such a short time frame? I mean, sure, traffic is bad but…
 

day late

money? whats that?
Good grief. How DOES someone have that many accidents in such a short time frame? I mean, sure, traffic is bad but…

I don't know. But while the problem was tickets, not accidents, when dl jr. was learning to drive he spent about the first four years one point away from pedestrian. (And I mean that literally. It took years for him to learn that traffic laws apply to him too.) The only accidents he got into were the other guy's fault, every time. But it also led to Progressive canceling our policy.
 

day late

money? whats that?
Right now, I'm not sure what is going on. I said one guy got fired and the schedule was changing. Usually, the son would have dropped of the van last night and I would be working today. Due to the change, I'm off until tomorrow and get the smaller van. So last night the son texts me to ask if I'm ready for the swap out. I tell him I'm off until tomorrow. This is news to him. It shouldn't be. He told me my schedule was changing, along with the manager. He says he has to talk with the manager. I never heard another word from him. I texted the guy driving the van I'm supposed to get to arrange things for today. He tells me he swapped out the van with another guy and doesn't know what I'm talking about. Just now I got an appointment for 1:00 tomorrow, and I have no idea if I'm even going to have a van to drive. I sent a message to the manager asking if anyone else even reads the schedule. Tonight could get interesting.
 

Siskiyoumom

Veteran Member
Right now, I'm not sure what is going on. I said one guy got fired and the schedule was changing. Usually, the son would have dropped of the van last night and I would be working today. Due to the change, I'm off until tomorrow and get the smaller van. So last night the son texts me to ask if I'm ready for the swap out. I tell him I'm off until tomorrow. This is news to him. It shouldn't be. He told me my schedule was changing, along with the manager. He says he has to talk with the manager. I never heard another word from him. I texted the guy driving the van I'm supposed to get to arrange things for today. He tells me he swapped out the van with another guy and doesn't know what I'm talking about. Just now I got an appointment for 1:00 tomorrow, and I have no idea if I'm even going to have a van to drive. I sent a message to the manager asking if anyone else even reads the schedule. Tonight could get interesting.
Dang, what a mess!
Reminds me of being a teacher.
 

day late

money? whats that?
I guess I'm getting to be a grumpy old man. After I got the van from the younger guys Sunday evening, I started going though it Monday morning. You know how it is. Different people put different tools in different places. For example, since I'm mainly used to open cars, I keep those tools on the passengers seat. The other guys keep them in the back. No big deal. THIS time it was much different. There is a cabinet in the back we use to hold spare locks, tools and so on. One of the younger guys broke the lock that holds the drawers closed. Now every time I go around a corner, they either slide open, with everything banging around, or they slide closed with a bang and the stuff inside rattling around. MOST annoying. While checking out the van doorknobs are supposed to be in one place, deadbolts in another. They should be sorted by manufacturer. It was like a jigsaw puzzle. It took an hour to get it sorted out. On top of that, I found several deadbolts that were either incomplete, missing parts, screws, things like that, or missing keys. I had to sit in my living room rekeying 4 or 5 brand new locks. Sometimes I feel like I'm raising children again.
 

day late

money? whats that?
DL,

I'm certainly not an expert in the art of your profession, but in my mind, shouldn't a locksmith be able to simply pick a lock on a cabinet in his van rather than have to break it?

Just me thinkin' out loud again.

A.

I haven't gotten the full story yet. From what I'm told one smith broke the key off in the lock. No excuse for that in my opinion. All of us know that when the lock starts to get stiff, squirt it with WD-40. So, the second smith picks the remains of the key out of the lock and he told me that when he used the second key the lock just fell apart. Again, no excuse. He knew there was a problem and didn't use good sense in opening the lock. So, the lock was drilled out and removed after the cabinet was opened, and that's when they found out we don't carry that type of lock, so one has to be special ordered.
 

Freebirde

Senior Member
I guess I'm getting to be a grumpy old man. After I got the van from the younger guys Sunday evening, I started going though it Monday morning. You know how it is. Different people put different tools in different places. For example, since I'm mainly used to open cars, I keep those tools on the passengers seat. The other guys keep them in the back. No big deal. THIS time it was much different. There is a cabinet in the back we use to hold spare locks, tools and so on. One of the younger guys broke the lock that holds the drawers closed. Now every time I go around a corner, they either slide open, with everything banging around, or they slide closed with a bang and the stuff inside rattling around. MOST annoying. While checking out the van doorknobs are supposed to be in one place, deadbolts in another. They should be sorted by manufacturer. It was like a jigsaw puzzle. It took an hour to get it sorted out. On top of that, I found several deadbolts that were either incomplete, missing parts, screws, things like that, or missing keys. I had to sit in my living room rekeying 4 or 5 brand new locks. Sometimes I feel like I'm raising children again.

Bungee cords are your friends. Or go old school and use straps. Redneck tie paracord across the front.
 
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