Oh my, I hope I don't have any more days like today again, any time soon. It was a most unusual day. It started off easily enough. A lock out and an install of a keypad lock the customer had bought. No big deal. It was after that, that things got weird. I got a call to go to the local airport. There were a number of locks they wanted rekeyed. A big job, but nothing I can't handle. The problem was that the customer didn't want to talk to the lady at dispatch, he wanted to talk to the smith who was going to do the job. Based on the idea that I would have a better knowledge of what was needed. Well, the ladies on the phones are very familiar with what we do. But, okay. I called him and he told me a general idea of what was needed.
It sounded like an extensive job, needing a number of locks and parts, so I made arrangements to drop by before the scheduled time in order to make sure I had what was needed when I got there. I get there and we take a tour. The first door currently has to be opened from the inside. He wants it to open from both sides, but he has to be able to lock it from the inside for overnight. What he thinks is an adjustment is a complete replacement. We go inside. There are two doors the open from the inside into rooms that have very important equipment, and the hanger, so he wants some kind of keypad lock installed so that anyone in that room has to have the proper code to get into the rooms. The simplest answer is to remove the doorknobs, turn them around so that the keyhole is on the other side and put them back on the door. Then we get to a door handle that is cracked and is in defendant need of replacement. Next follows a door handle that is certainly failing. I mean when you put the key in the lock, the plug as we call it, shouldn't move in and out. It should only turn right and left. This thing doesn't turn at all and certainly moves in and out. MAYBE it can be fixed, but replacement is more likely. THEN we get to the room when some of the most important stuff is done and there is a push paddle on the door so that in case of an emergency the people inside just push the paddle and the door opens. In this case the paddle doesn't work at all.
Before I went to do the inspection, I called the boss and gave him an idea of what I was up against and said that I would be needing help on this job. He told me to look things over, take a lot of notes and even more pictures, then send them to him. I did that. Before I got out of the parking lot, he was on the phone asking questions. I answered them and he decided to take the job from me and would bring the help he needed. I have no problem with that. But the boss will. One thing I didn't mention is that the customer wants a master key for all the doors. That means the employees have a key that will work on their doors, but he will have a key that works on their doors as well as his. Quite a diference.
Then I get a call from the son. I need to go by his place so he can do inventory on my van. This is at about 4 P.M. I have a job lined up for 5:30 at a self-storage place to cut five locks. I report to dispatch, and they say no problem they will send it to the other smith here in town. At roughly 5 P.M. I get a call. The other smith is on his way out of town, so I have to handle the call. I got there at about 5:45 and the lady at the business says that first of all she has to be somewhere else in about 20 minutes. So, I can't do the job today. She also informs me that the smith who had been sent out before started to cut the lock on the wrong unit. This lock will never work again, so I have to have a replacement for it, after I finish cutting it off. BUT HEY, we can do that tomorrow.
A most interesting day, and I didn't tell you all of it.