Comments The Locksmith Journals

day late

money? whats that?
Here we are, the day after the storm and everything is about back to normal. The last two calls I got proved interesting. One, just kind of strange and the other, just another jerk.

Of course, unless the customer provides it, I never get the whole story. But a lot you can infer. I got called to rekey locks on three doors. Normally that means six locks, one doorknob and one deadbolt each. ALL of the hardware is brand-spanking-new. New keys for everything. There isn't a stick of furniture in the house and the customer is an older gentleman with a young guy who keeps calling him "Dad." Seems like maybe Dad bought a house for junior while he is in school at UF and then plans to flip it when son graduates. A common practice in this town. Done right, you can make a few bucks that way. Now here is the odd thing, and I'll say right now that in seven years I've never had this happen before. We have a brand-new-just-installed doorknob and deadbolt on the front door. It comes with two keys from the factory. Only one key works. They decide to save a couple of bucks to key the other doors to the front door, instead of having everything set to another key. That's fine, saves me time. I rekey the other doors and guess what. That bad key on the front door will work on every other door in the house, but not the one it was made for. I've never seen that happen before and have no idea why.

The jerk call was the last one of the day. I'm supposed to leave the house at 7:30 to pick up the guy I drop off the van with at 8 and he lives about 25 minutes away. Of course, I get a call taking me the wrong way, to 'Sam's Club' and I need to open a car at 7:30. I arrive a couple of minutes early. I already called the customer and left a message that I was on my way. Then left another as I'm cruising the parking lot. I call dispatch to ask if they said any certain part of the parking lot. The lady calls them and I keep cruising. I get a call 10 minutes later from dispatch. The customer got in by themselves and have already left the parking lot. The jerk wasted about 20 minutes of my time just because they couldn't pick up the phone and say 'Never mind'.
 

day late

money? whats that?
'Every day an adventure' the man said, 'You'll enjoy it' he said. Well, today was one of those days where you just have to scratch your head. It started while I was in the shower. I'm supposed to go on at 8. I get a dispatch telling me that at 8 I'm supposed to be 15 minutes away, opening a car. Ok. I start a little early. No big deal. I call and leave a message that I'm on the way. Before I get 1/2 a mile from my home the customer calls back, he already found another locksmith who is going to be there any minute. Cancel the call, go home, enjoy a second cup of coffee.

The next call comes in at about 10:30. I have a trucker locked out of his rig, with his phone inside. He has called from the Publix, where he was making a delivery. In Lake City. 45 minutes north of me. I called and asked them to let the driver know I was on the way. I get to Publix and know the truck is at the loading dock, so I drive around back. No truck. I think maybe they meant the store next to Publix. I check, no truck. I check the other side of the strip mall I'm in. No truck. I park and go into Publix and ask at the service counter.

"Oh yeah. That driver is out back at the loading dock."

"No, he isn't."

Call the loading dock manager and wait five minutes for him to get there.

"Oh, he's backed up at bay 2 out back."

"No, he isn't."

"Sure, he is, come on, I'll show you."

We walk thought the store, he triumphantly opens bay 2 and there is no truck. He looks at me like a deer in the headlights for a moment then says,

"He was there a little while ago. And he wasn't a regular Publix driver."

Somehow, the driver got in and took off without telling anyone. Now I have a nice little 45-minute drive to get back home.

The last job I feel kind of sorry for the lady, but not too sorry and don't feel bad at all about taking the money. Again, it's a 45-minute drive one way. I have to open a car for a lady. She tells me she believes the keys are in the trunk. I open that and the alarm goes off. No keys. While the alarm is still sounding, I go ahead and open the door instead of setting it off twice. The lady looks inside the car. No keys. It seems that I was the last resort, sort of. She had obviously driven the car there. She claims the family has torn the house apart looking for the keys with no luck. The keys MUST be in the car. Nope. Now understand, this house is in a really nice area. There are at least four or five other vehicles there. Even in the dark I can tell this is a big spread. Big ranch house style home. She is not short on either transportation or money. BUT... I still charged this lady over $100 just to show her that the keys are indeed somewhere between the car and inside the home.

Strange day.
 

day late

money? whats that?
Okay! I delayed this entry, mainly because of what it is. Not what happened, what it is. I call it, 'When Worlds Collide'. As those who know me are aware, I spent a few years as a dental lab. tech. I spent 10 years working with an oral surgeon. I've seen a few things. Ugly things. I've looked into the hole where a nose used to be, and seen the tongue inside the mouth, kind of ugly things. Keep that in mind.

This was another long distance job. A lady has locked herself out of a truck at a local park/nature preserve kind of area. It's 35/40 minutes to get there. I arrive and find a woman slightly older than myself (I'm 66) and she has problems far beyond the truck. The entire left side of her nose is missing. She has a bandage over the opening where her nostril should be, to absorb any fluids that might drip out. When I say missing, I mean from the bridge of her nose to, what should be, her upper lip. And from the center of her face, in a triangular way, to about the area of where her upper left second bicuspid should be. There is NO 'skin' tissue in this area. What is visible is supposed to be on the inside. Her teeth seem to all be present, just not where they are supposed to be. They are pointing every direction. To be blunt, if most people were to run into this woman unexpectedly, they would either become sick, or do everything they can to get out as soon as possible. In my time with the oral surgeon, I've seen worse. But my dilemma is I'm caught between two worlds. The locksmith CAN NOT make any kind of a big deal about the customers appearance. He MUST make eye contact with the customer and ignore everything else. The lab. tech. wants her to sit down, open up real wide and let's see what we can do to improve her situation. I can't do that without looking at what the locksmith shouldn't be looking at.

I had a real battle suppressing the lab. tech., but the locksmith made eye contact and normal conversation. And here's the part where I know that The Lord watches over His own. While I was there she made a few off-the-cuff remarks you might expect from a Christian. Then came the surprise. She told me that some stranger had come up to her while she was waiting and asked about the problem. She explained she had a locksmith on the way and thank you very much.

"How much is the locksmith charging you?"

"$85." (Higher charge due to distance)

Reaching into his pocket, "Well, here's something to help cover the cost."

The man hands her cash and walks away. He gave her $70.
 

day late

money? whats that?
Sometimes, you just know it is going to be one of those days. Nothing went wrong, but it got odd.

It started with me having to go to the boss's house because that stupid key cutter was out of alignment again. Just as he gets it set up, I get my first call. I've got to drive an hour north and visit the state prison in Raiford. The customer wasn't at the prison, he lives across the street. There are roads on all four sides of the prison. I've said it before. Nothing gets you suspicious looks more or faster than cruising slowly around a jail or prison in a vehicle with the word LOCKSMITH on the side. I get there and the car has been running for over an hour. That is good for me. It was a VW and they can be a bear to open. But with the engine on, I just push the button and lower the window. Before I got there I had another job waiting on me. Before I left, the job was canceled.

The next thing was I would get the text that I had been sent a job, but no dispatch. I look around and finally find a way to get to the dispatch, but it is a royal pain. This carries on for the rest of the day before I figured it out. The dispatch is linked to the calendar. When I bring it up, it shows the jobs for that day. Somehow, the date got changed so it was showing next Monday. That means it's not showing the jobs for today.

Twice I had to call the ladies at dispatch because I couldn't connect to either the app with the dispatch to close the job when finished, or to get her to run the credit card because I couldn't. And to top it off, I forgot. Today is game day. The Gators are in the Swamp and it is party time. Needless to say, wherever I got sent today, I gave a wide berth to anything close to the stadium. On one of my calls, I was a good five miles away from the game, and about two hours before kickoff, at a gas station. Traffic was bad enough that a five-minute trip from where I started, took fifteen. The guy asked if we were busy, and I told him on game day we don't have time to get from one fire to the next. Then he says,

"Yeah, that's where I'm going when we get done here."

Good luck fella. About eight blocks from the stadium, I passed a girl standing in a circle in the middle of an intersection with a sign offering parking spaces. At $60 a spot for cars. Trucks are more and motor homes aren't allowed downtown.

Edit To Add; I forgot. We close at 10. That would be about the time people are moving from the game to the bars. I suspect tomorrow is going to be a busy morning.
 

day late

money? whats that?
Things went about as expected, with one oddity. I opened nothing but cars all weekend long, except one apartment. Today, up until late, I only had three calls. All in the morning as expected. The last call is what has gotten me watching carefully. Not the car, but things started happening about then. I'm supposed to pick up the guy who has the van tomorrow at 8 P.M. when I get off. I'm driving across town with the usual plan. Pick him up right at quitting time, then I come home by 8:30 and he is home by 9. Of course, I'm 5 minutes from his house when I get a call. I need to turn around and go back downtown to open a truck. That makes me 20 minutes late getting to his place. Then things sound like they are taking a downhill turn.

Earlier in the day this guy asked if I could pick him up late. He had a family get together to go to. I said fine. A couple of hours later he says, never mind. Let's still with 8. I arrive at 8:20 after having sent him two texts. One saying my ETA, the other "I'm here". That was followed by two phone calls, leaving a message with one of them. After that and 20 minutes I was about to give up and take the van home when he sends the message he was napping, sorry I didn't hear your call. Be right out.

Okay. Things happen. He doesn't normally do this kind of thing. Overlook it. On the way back to my place we talk. I ask about the family. Wrong choice. I don't have any idea of what is going on, except it involves women who come with children. He's complaining about the woman he is involved with now and swearing it was a mistake. Then turns around and says he is thinking of going back to his ex-wife and their two kids. There were also comments about working so much for so little. Okay...Good place to keep my trap shut. The fun part just may well be tomorrow morning. A mandatory meeting of all smiths at the boss's home to go over how to better communicate with dispatch or some such. The possibility of a few fireworks is not out of the picture.
 

day late

money? whats that?
The last two days have been just unreal. It started when I was supposed to have been picked up so I could have the van. The guy calls and says he has a chance to learn-by-doing about car keys. It will make him about 45 minutes late. Do I mind? I tell him no, there's nothing going on around here that requires me. Take your time. About twenty minutes before the normal pick up time, a full hour before the agreed time, he calls and says the deal fell through. He'll be by at 8. He tells me as I'm halfway through supper. Inconvenient, but understandable. Then we get to yesterday.

It wasn't that any of the jobs was hard, it was that it was constant all day long. I did one apartment, and everything else was a car. But those cars were located all over this county, and a couple of others. In a couple of cases, I drove for around 45 minutes. Worked two minutes. Used five or six minutes to handle paperwork. Then drove back. It seemed like I would pull in the driveway, go inside and take off my shoes, get a call, put on my shoes and go somewhere else. One of the jobs I did was a local car dealership. They have a fussy doorknob. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I take the cover off and go for the manager before doing anything. I've got screws just about ready to fall out of this thing. I want him to see what I have found before I do anything. The thing is as dirty as it can be, so I hose it down with WD-40 and tighten up everything. When I left the manager said it was working fine. Remember that. Then we had today.

Before I can get out of the shower, I have an appointment to change the key codes at a local business. I've only done residential. This is a whole different ball game. This is a commercial grade lock. I call dispatch and tell them I'll try, but I've never done one of these before, so I WILL be calling for help. As I get there the boss calls, says he is on the way, take and send pictures of the locks to him to look at while on the way. He calls back a few minutes later,

"We don't do those kind of locks. They may have to go back to whoever installed it."

That building has been there a long time. Who knows who installed it? So, the first call is a bust.

Next up a lady is in her car, an Audi, she can drive it. But the keys are in the trunk. (HOW do you do that?) This Audi has only one button to open the trunk. It is on the fob. In her purse. In the trunk. I spent half an hour doing everything I could think of to open that trunk. It just wasn't happening. The good thing was that it was a rental, so there is a spare key. The bad news is that she is from Tampa. She also has a meeting in about an hour and needs the laptop, in the trunk. Second call a bust.

The third one, a guy is locked out of his truck, about fifteen minutes away. I call the customer to let him know help is on the way.

"Oh that's okay. A called a friend of mine. He's going to take me home to get the spare key."

Third call in a row that's a bust and this time I didn't even get out of the house. There were only a couple of other calls today and they were just run of the mill car lockouts. But these past couple of days it has just been weirdness. And the traffic was no better.

Edit To Add, I almost forgot. I'm supposed to pick the guy up at 8. I'm on time. I have sent him texts on two different phone lines. No answer. 20 minutes later I call dispatch. What do I do with the van? Let us call him. Five minutes later I get an apologetic text and a promise to be there soon. (Which was another 10 minutes.) Strange two days. Glad it's over.
 
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day late

money? whats that?
All right. I asked you to remember that one job. It was a car dealership. There was a door with a deadbolt and handle on the outside and a push bar on the inside. The handle wasn't retracking the latch far enough to let the door open. I took the cover off, tightened screws, sprayed everything with WD-40 and asked the man to check it. It worked fine, until the next day. Then it went back to doing the same thing. The boss's son went over today and checked it again. He went a little deeper than I did, found more loose and/or missing screws. He did what he could but ended up telling the customer that this thing is on its last legs. I mean a door in a major car dealership. How many times a day does that handle get used? The customer was okay with that. He said,

"I'll just write it off."
 

day late

money? whats that?
I've mentioned this in passing, but it amazes me how much trouble people will put themselves in before calling for help. This crossed my mind because of a couple of recent jobs. One personal, one professional. The professional job was at a local store. A room needed to be gotten into, nobody could find the key, so they had one of their workers beat the thing off the door. When I get there, I have to not only install a new knob, but I have to rekey it to a key the manager has. Also, during the break-in, the credit card trick was tried, unsuccessfully. How do I know? They used a paint scraper, just like I would, and tried to get it between the door and the frame to tap the latch back. They succeeded in getting the scraper under the strike plate and bending it about 45 degrees. It would have been a lot cheaper to get us to open the door and rekey the existing lock.

Then I had the young lady who could see the keys on the front seat of her SUV. She tried a coat hanger on the driver's door. Kinda messed up the weather stripping a little. AND scratch the paint around the window a bit. She also managed to bust a piece of plastic out of the rear window frame. Don't ask me how. It was nowhere near where she was using the hanger. Since that didn't work, she tried the driver's side back door. I don't know if it was just too late the night before or she just got too frustrated, but the hanger wound up stuck in the doorframe to the back seat. She's looking at maybe $1,000 worth of damage and still wound up having to call a locksmith.

While that is bad, it doesn't come close to the guy that bent the window frame so badly, I didn't even have to use the air bags to get the rod inside the car. Countless times I've gotten to a job, usually an apartment with four bedrooms. Each room with a different lock. A young lady lives in each room. One of them is locked out. When I look at the lock before even starting, I will often find pieces of credit cards, knives, paper clips, pins and/or needles, scissors, or anything you can think of that a desperate person feels they can play 'James Bond' with and save some money.

And, of course, there is the other side. Like the lady who complained that her lock worked just fine when she left to go to Publix, but now the key won't even fit in the lock. Turns out the neighbor's kid filled the lock with superglue. Problems there that I don't even want to get involved with.

The situation isn't helped by a surprising number of customers who have absolutely no clue. I mean I can handle most of them. They are just a little off center. Maybe overly concerned about security. Like the guy who had me grind off the numbers on his new keys, so nobody could write them down and cut their own key. THAT kind of off center I can handle. But some people are in such a state of denial that it boggles the mind. Such as the lady who 'thought' that someone had tried to break into her home. But she knew all of her neighbor's and nobody would do something like that. You know, "It can't happen to me." When I check the lock, someone has already drilled about 1/4 way through the keyhole, trying to remove the pins and open the lock that way. (Which, for the record, is the hard way to do it. That shows whoever did it wasn't a pro.) That took time and made noise. It may well be why he/she stopped. If the bit gets jammed and the drill keeps spinning it squeals like you wouldn't believe. Real good way to attract attention. Especially if you are doing it at night. Ask me how I know.
 
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day late

money? whats that?
It was certainly trick or treat today. Mostly tricks. First thing in the morning was quiet, then about mid-morning I get a call to go to Ocala. Now wait a minute. We have at least a couple of smiths down there. This is a car lockout, so it should only take a couple of minutes. Dispatch must have made a mistake. So, I asked them. Nope. No mistake. The guys in Ocala are slammed with work and I'm the nearest available locksmith. According to GPS I am between 45 and 50 minutes from the customer, and I'm the closest available? By the time I get 2/3's the way there one of the Ocala guys should be freed up to handle this. Sorry, boss says you gotta go.

Fine, I go into the usual routine. First call the customer and tell them I'm on my way. Also, to provide an ETA, so they know when to start looking for me. I call the number and after she says hello, I introduce myself and ask if she is having trouble with a car.

"No speak English."

"Did you call for a locksmith?"

"No speak English."

"Do you have trouble with your car?"

"No speak English."

After a couple more attempts to communicate, she hangs up. I call dispatch and explain. They tell me at first contact there was an English speaker there. I'm sent, just in case. The lady at dispatch sends a message in Spanish. Half an hour late and about 3/4 the way to the location, I get a one-word text. Cancel.

I get home, just in time for a late lunch and it hits me. The trick is a long distance call that gets canceled at the last mile or two. The treat is getting home to a lunch made by my wife. That worked, for a while. Then I get the next call.

The Ocala call took me south. This one was in Branson which is about an hour west of Gainesville. This one, there is no way the customer is going to cancel. He paid in full ($171.00) and in advance, over the phone. But then it gets interesting. I have to be at the location by 2. I arrive at 1:55. I'm in front of some little out of the way honky-tonk bar in the middle of nowhere. I call the customer and he tells me he isn't even close to me. He can't get there before 5. Dispatch said be there by 2. Hmmmm. I call dispatch.

"Oh, it's okay. We got special written permission for you to open the truck, hide the keys somewhere inside, and then tell me where you put them, so I can tell the customer".

This is new. EVERY TIME I have opened a vehicle before, it was only with the customer standing there with me, or nearby so they can stay out of the rain. There have been a few times the real estate agent has me sent to an empty building to re-key locks and leave the keys in the drop box. But NEVER have I opened a vehicle and left it sitting there, open, with the keys inside, in front of a red neck bar. This isn't the first time someone has asked me to do something questionable. Once I was done, I sent a text to dispatch, telling them what I had done, where the keys were hidden, and that it was all done according to what I had been instructed to do. Dispatch acknowledged my text, so if anything happens or something comes up missing, I'm covered.

Always something new and every day an adventure.
 

day late

money? whats that?
Just stopping in for a minute. I thought trick or treat was yesterday. Well, so far it is yesterday all over again, but in reverse. Nothing all morning long. Then, at lunch I get a call to go to Ocala. Seems like those guys are as busy as we get when students are moving in or out. A 50 minute trip one way, spend about 10 getting them inside, spend another 10 settling the bill, and I'm on my way home. I should get there around 3 to 3:15. I'm on the road five minutes when I get a call. I have to be at Lake City, 50 minutes north of Gainesville by 5:00. I call the customer at 4 to say I'm on my way. He asks how much this is going to cost. I tell him. His response,

"You're charging how much?"

I repeat it.

"Let me call you back in a few minutes."

I told dispatch I was parking until I heard. 15 minutes later I inform dispatch there is no call. They check. 5 minutes later I am told, Cancel. I'm just glad I wasn't heading north on I-75 when I found out. There are places where exits get few and far apart.
 

larry_minn

Contributing Member
Hope it’s ok to ask a question in your line.
Neighbor to my in-laws had a (guessing) 1997 F-150 4wd, V8…. He passed away @6 years ago. The truck stayed parked as estate changed, person who got house, stuff got sick, passed…
now they cannot find keys, title…. Is it true once clear title. We could go to FORD dealer, some locksmith and have them make keys from records? or better to have locksmith come out, can they make keys from ignition? Or better to replace it?
 

day late

money? whats that?
Hope it’s ok to ask a question in your line.
Neighbor to my in-laws had a (guessing) 1997 F-150 4wd, V8…. He passed away @6 years ago. The truck stayed parked as estate changed, person who got house, stuff got sick, passed…
now they cannot find keys, title…. Is it true once clear title. We could go to FORD dealer, some locksmith and have them make keys from records? or better to have locksmith come out, can they make keys from ignition? Or better to replace it?

That gets into the time frame when manufacturers first started putting computer chips in their keys. So, the first thing is to find out from Ford I would guess, if that make and model has the chip. If it has the chip, the onboard computer will have to be programed to accept the new key with a new chip. If the truck doesn't have a chip in the key, you could save yourself a few bucks by going to a salvage yard and either pull the ignition and/or door lock yourself, or you can pay them to do it for you. Just make sure they are for your make/model/year and the key works in both. If there is no chip it should be possible to either re-key the locks, (I'm assuming you would want ignition and door keyed alike.) or just cut new keys. There are a couple of ways a new key can be cut, the method used is decided by the smith at the location.
 

day late

money? whats that?
Ya know locks really are amazing things. If you've lived in your home for five years or more, chances are that the locks on your home are older than your car and see more daily use. But they just keep working the way they are meant to, until they don't. I know the locks on my home are older than my car, and it's 2011. Locks really have only two enemies. Time and abuse. I once was called to pick a skeleton key lock on an antique, glass front, cabinet. Time had done its work on this thing. The owner told me he picked it up in North Carolina at an estate auction. He had locked the doors to it after purchase, consigned it to professional movers, and got it back to Florida. Then he realized he had the unique experience of using the lock for the last time. After locking, it gave up the ghost. We got it open, but it goes to show what I tell the customers.

"Locks are mechanical devices. Sooner or later, all mechanical devices fail. If that wasn't true, we wouldn't need mechanics for our cars, techs for the air conditioners, or even locksmiths."

Most of the time, I admit the culprit is abuse. Especially in a college town like this one. I was sent to a frat house one time. The outside knob had come off the door. The reason it came off the door is because the brothers in the house would drop one side of the case of beer or the keg, on the doorknob while they used that hand to fish for their key. Frequently. Then it had to be rekeyed to the deadbolt. I don't recall now why it happened, but we ended up replacing doorknobs and deadbolts on both front and back doors on that one.

One cause of failure I see all the time, especially with older Kwikset knobs, is a failure of the latch. Okay, that's the time part. The abuse comes in when the customer REALLY wants into the room and so they attack the knob. By the time I get there they have done quite a bit of my work for me. The knob is on the floor and I use pliers to remove the latch in pieces. Then replace same and charge the customer.

The truth is that with anything mass produced, from time to time you are going to have a lemon. That goes for anything from autos to xylophones. Today I ran across one of those. The customer had actually done a pretty good job on replacing the handle. (This was that kind of handle you grab with your hand, then push a button with your thumb to open the latch.) But he didn't have a bit large enough to drill out the hole for the screw that holds the bottom of the handle against the door. He also notices the latch isn't really working right. I remove the outside handle and inside knob to look at the latch. Yep! That was the problem. Pieces of it had fallen off and were laying inside the hole cut for the knob in the door. Clearly this thing was defective from the factory. The box it came in was still on the floor by the door. I showed the customer the problem. He asked if it was fixable. Uh, no, it's not. I recommended that he return it for another one and left him with a card with my number on it, in case the people at the store have any questions.
 
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day late

money? whats that?
Things must be going really well for the boss, or really bad. between the two, I lean towards good. I've been off of a few days so nothing new to report there. But I was officially notified today that everybody is having their hours cut. The boss has decided that there just isn't enough work to justify staying open until 10 at night. So, from now until he changes his mind again, we are just working 8 to 8. Also, a while back Florida voted to increase minimum wage. Since SS limits how much I can make above what they give me, and the wage has gone up, I'm working fewer hours and still getting paid about the same. I can work with that.
 

day late

money? whats that?
It had to happen sooner or later. Well, it happened today. I've always said that in the case of a child in danger, I wouldn't charge no matter what the boss said. That changed today. The first call of the day and I'm off to, I'm told an interior door won't unlock. It seems odd that I'm talking to a woman on the phone, but a man answers the door. Turns out that they are new parents. VERY new parents. I'd guess the baby at about two to three months. Now, getting into a locked room with the baby inside, I don't charge for that. In this case, mom had taken the infant into the nursery to tend to the child. She closed the door and I guess locked it. That was the last time the lock worked. I have mom and baby locked in the nursery. Ok, I still would have likely found a way to do it for free and not tell the boss. But the lock did malfunction. The lady ask's if I can fix it. Afraid not. This problem is in a part of the lock that is made to NOT come apart. Then she hands me the answer to my problem. Can I make the knob work and disable the lock? Not a problem at all. Remove the piece that connects the lock to the thumb turn button on the inside and the lock no longer functions. The doorknob still works perfectly, but that lock will never work again. She was happy with that. I mean it is the door to the nursery. Most folks aren't going to lock that door. This qualifies as a lock repair. In my mind, I can justify charging for that. As long as the boss doesn't know about it, no problem. And he got paid, so he isn't going to ask.

Then we had fun and games with the ladies on dispatch. I'm almost back from my second call of the day, a simple car lockout, when I get a call telling me I have a commercial lockout to go to. It is located in Lake City, so I'm thinking a supervisor is locked out of his office, because it's at a hotel. It's a U-Haul truck. Then I remembered. The boss either has or is trying very hard to get hooked up with U-Haul as a sub-contractor. Reasonable considering the number of their trucks and storage units we get into every year. So, that's why it shows up as commercial instead of a simple car lockout. At any rate, 45 minutes away and a corporate account, $200 for about two minutes actual working time.

And then we had the last call of the day. Now I understand having to drive 45 minutes to an hour going north, east or west of Gainesville. But when we have people in Ocala, why do I have to drive down there to open a house? They must have been really busy or something. The lady was actually apologetic to me. She said that she didn't want to be a problem, so if dispatch couldn't find someone local, that was okay. She would look elsewhere or do something else. When she found out I drove down there from here, she was upset that I should have had to go so far out of my way. I assured her it was no problem. Just as I assured her it was no problem when I called her at 7:05 to say I had arrived. OH! I didn't mention. She was on her way home from down south after fleeing Nicole. The appointment was for 7:15. I called on arrival at 7:05. She said she would be there by 7:20. It was getting close to 7:45 and I was thinking about calling dispatch about cancelling, when her SUV pulled up. The lock was one of those beggars. Begging me to pick it. She was inside in less than two minutes. Then the 45 minute trip home and re-heating supper. Fortunately, we close at 8 now. I can eat in peace.
 

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As was once said in an old sci-fi TV series I like,

"Right now, a little boredom wouldn't come amiss."

I got a call. It was a bit more than usual. Middle-aged couple, just moved into a new home. They find out they have a different set of keys for each door. They want them all keyed the same. No big deal. They have four doors, two locks per door, half of the locks they quit making before I even got into this line. Now I've got to rekey 8 locks. Time consuming, but not too bad. Then I get to the job. First of all, it's nine locks. Secondly, they are unhappy with two of the doorknobs as well as two of the dead bolts. They are old and ugly, so since the work is being done anyway, why not replace them? I did point out I could save them a little money. Since I was replacing the front door knob, and everything could to be keyed to that, I couldn't charge him for the lock I keyed everything else to. That cut it back to 8 locks. The hard part is that while the couple were very nice, not a harsh word between them or directed at me, they even offered me some cold water about 3/4's the way through the job, they were curious. I'm explaining everything about how locks work, to which locks I think are best for which purpose, up to advice on where and how to hide a key AND the reasons for it. What should have taken 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours ended up taking about 2 hours and 45 minutes. I ended up losing a call to another locksmith because I was delayed by this one. Well, they were nice folks and since I'm on SS I can't make commission anyway. But it did end up being a $600 job.


But then we had the last call of the day. A real beaut. It's 1/2 hour to quitting time. I get a call to go to (where else?) Lake City. I guy is locked out of a vehicle. It's not quite Lake City, it's a truck stop just south of there. 30 minutes to get there. When I arrive, I'm now on overtime that I can't get paid for because of the afore mentioned SS. I had called the customer before leaving to give an ETA. I call him back, just before I get there. That way he can direct me to the vehicle. No answer. I arrive at the truck stop and call again. No answer. I call dispatch and explain the problem. I am at a truck stop. From where I am parked, I can see easily 80 to 100 trucks. I don't even know what kind of vehicle I'm looking for and the customer doesn't answer. She calls the customer. No answer. But she does tell me I'm looking for a white minivan. The next twenty minutes are spent cruising the parking lot while the ladies at dispatch decide what I am to do, between calls to the customer. I flagged down a security guy and explained what was happening and he made a check in parts of the parking lot I can't reach because of locked gates. I parked and waited another twenty minutes. By this time, I figure the customer got in somehow, by himself and was too embarrassed to answer the phone. It's rude but has happened many times before. Just as I was about to call dispatch and ask if we were canceling or not, and the security guys shows up. He tells me he found the car. We go there. He leaves me to open it and it's done in no time. Then I wait another fifteen minutes for him to come back. He gets there and then escorts me to the restaurant to introduce me to the manager. No wonder he didn't answer the phone. And all this time, the boss is trying to get me to join the company meeting they are having on the phone.

I didn't join the meeting last night. Wonder if I missed anything important.
 

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I can get used to these fewer hours at about the same pay. I have no idea how long the boss will find it to his benefit to keep a part-timer around, but I'll ride this pony to the end. Not a lot to talk about, but the boss is always going on about 'upsell'. It means just what it sounds like. Try to sell the customer something above and beyond what you were called to the location to do. I'm a terrible salesman. I seriously couldn't sell snowshoes to an Eskimo. But recently I had two jobs where the customer sold themselves. The first one was similar to what happened before. Single home, multiple locks. This time, at least they were all the same make. But they had a couple that were older and uglier than the rest. They asked how much to replace them. I told them and mentioned they could probably get what they wanted from the nearest Home Depot and have them rekey the locks before they even leave the store. They could save themselves a nice chunk of change that way. A little over $100. But no, they had talked themselves into having it done professionally. I did the job and I charged them. The husband did ask to look at the receipt to verify what he was paying for. Once we went down the list and he agreed I wasn't over-charging, he was actually happy to pay. I guess he'd been burned in the past by paying for something he didn't get. That's fine. No offense to me. It just makes good sense.

The other job was a simple house lockout. The customer was talking about getting wooden bars for the glass door in the back. I suggested the window locks instead and got one from the van to show him how they worked. After I had placed the lock on the rail the door slides on and tightened it down, I asked him to try to open the door. It wouldn't budge, he was highly impressed. He would have bought more from me, but the guy I share the van with didn't restock again. I told the customer that for about $8 at Home Depot he could get a package of four. He didn't care, he wouldn't let me leave until I added the window lock to the charge for opening his house.

Two upsells, and in both cases the customers did it to themselves. That works for me.
 

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I'm not so sure I like the way this is going. But then again, sometimes the boss gets big ideas, and they fizzle out soon after. It seems like once again the boss is in a state of flux, so to speak. To start with, he finally got the smiths he needed in Ocala. As usual they are young, raw, but with some talent. This requires some supervision and training by more experienced smiths. This is normal. Everybody has to start somewhere. But it also means that with only one really experienced guy in Ocala, one of the guys from Gainesville has to run down there two or three days a week until the new guys get up to speed. That in turn means the schedule is changing again. Not to mention the new guy I share the van with is taking off, in a good way. I'll explain.

I was supposed to work Monday and Tuesday, then be off until Sunday. It seems that this guy started a big job and because of things out of his control, couldn't finish the same day. Special order parts that weren't even thought of until the job had already been started. That kind of thing. The parts came in and the job is set for tomorrow, Tuesday. But he's off. He got the job, he started the job, and he ought to be the one to finish the job. But you can't make the customer wait another three or four days for him to go back on duty. What is the boss to do? I mean, how would I feel if I started a job with a nice big paycheck at the end of it, and then after getting started, and about 2/3's the way through, the boss gave it to someone else? I'd be losing a big piece of my commission, and a lot of confidence in the boss. So, this afternoon I get a call from the lady who makes up the schedule. 'Do you mind giving the other guy the van tomorrow, then take off four days and work this Saturday and Sunday? You still get your three days this week.' I don't mind, but I'm wondering if the Gators are playing in the Swamp this weekend. That could make things fun. AND it gets better.

This guy has a couple of children from a previous relationship. The holidays are here, and he would like to have certain days to be with his kids. I'm an old fart. It's likely to be just the wife and myself for Christmas. I haven't heard yet what Mom wants to do about Christmas with the past year our family has had. The loss of a brother and his wife. Various family traumas and dramas all though this year, and they aren't over yet. Mom is thinking about canceling family Christmas this year. That would mean I'm quite flexible on my hours. And a man should spend Christmas will his children, especially when they are young. The nice thing about it is that he and (as he calls her) the mother of his children seemed to have a friendly split. I've heard them talking on the phone from time to time. Not a lot of harsh words (None that I heard in fact.) and even some laughter on both ends of the phone a couple of times. Yeah, he should be with his kids.

But the whole thing is playing hob with the schedule. For me at least. Never quite sure what days I'm working and what days I'm off. That's not good. I don't mind being flexible, but don't try to take advantage of me. The lady who works out the schedule has told me she is trying to find a way that both of us can have every other weekend off. Then I spoke with the guy who was promoted over me to being basically the new manager of the Gainesville office. I made mention of wanting to have at least a semi-regular schedule. I knew I might be taking a chance of sounding like a disgruntled employee, but I've also been there longer than anyone else. That counts for something. To my surprise the new manager agreed with me and started gripping about the days and hours he has to work. Oddly enough that issue came up in the weekly meeting we had tonight. Again, promises were made about getting it worked out, 'just give us time'. But the part that had me disturbed was when we were told during the meeting that the company 'uniform' is changing.

Right now, we have shirts, jackets, and hats with the company logo on them. I never wear the hat. With the way I sweat, it wouldn't last a week. Starting ASAP, there is a slight change. Everyone wears khaki pants. Also make sure to wear the hat and ID badge. In cooler weather you have to wear the company jacket with our logo. Now, I don't mind a uniform. I wore one that was pickle green for four years in faraway lands and did things I don't talk about. That doesn't bother me. But if you expect me to go out and buy pants to match your uniform standards, we have a problem. Even the Army provides the uniform. It turns out I was in the van with the other guy when this news came out. Like me he is a vet. He muted the phone, and we expressed our feelings about the uniform to each other for the next few minutes. In terms that were both loud and not to be repeated in polite company. He dropped me off right at the end of the meeting and I went inside to complain to my wife about it. About a half an hour later I got a call from one of the ladies.

"Look this is nothing on you. We know you always dress professionally and treat the customers with respect. This was about some of the younger smiths showing up for work with clothes that aren't professional at all. Jeans with holes in them, or they are covered with studs. They are wearing jackets with things like bands on them instead of the company jacket. (Jumping in here to say the company jacket is really pretty good. Fairly waterproof, light, it will keep you warm down to lower temperatures than you would expect, and they are comfortable.) It short the problem is younger people wearing younger peoples' clothes on the job and it looks bad for the company."

It makes sense, and they did send a text to everyone later that if you don't have khaki pants and/or shorts, don't run out and buy them. The boss will buy them for you. I've heard that kind of thing before. I'm just going to keep on doing what I'm doing until they ask for my waist size and inseam. Based on what I've been seeing and hearing lately, I'm guessing the 'advisors' the boss hired a while back are really pushing him to go more for appearance than performance. I never had a hat until much earlier this year. Now, I have two and still don't plan on wearing either one. But the advisors are saying appearance and that first impression are most important. That's true. But what is the customer going to think about when the job is done? How good we looked, or how good of a job we did? No, we can't look like slobs, but don't place an over importance on what we look like. Boss, look at all the reviews we got online. Over 500 of them in the last seven, soon to be eight years I've been with you. Not one of them mentions a word about how we look. But they can't say enough about our speed and price. Think about it.
 

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It is hard to find a dull moment around here. This is more or less a teaser, because I don't know where this is going. The boss has just about got the office in Ocala sorted out. He's got new smiths' down there and gotten most things arranged to run smoothly after the manager got canned. He has been leaning heavily on the ladies who handle the phones, and everything has gone pretty well. Yesterday the announcement was made that for personal reasons, the lady who is in charge of the others and pretty much keeps things on track with supplies, hours and such, has decided to leave. Now the schedule is going nuts again and interesting times are ahead. And, of course, it happens just before Christmas.
 

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Boss, when will you learn? Okay, I understand things are tough and everybody is squeezing pennies everywhere they can. But sometimes you just have to get up off of the cash. It isn't bad enough having the upset with handling the phones. A while back the boss decided it was too much hassle to e-mail things to each and every one of us. So, he got an e-mail account for the business, and everyone checks in there. So far, so good. Well, the boss got one of those free accounts that are offered online. Everyone got signed in just after we lost the two smiths and manager in Ocala. new people are hired, their names are added to the e-mail list, and the capacity of the account is over-full. I got kicked out and it won't let me back in. I didn't know about that, I just kept calling the boss because I needed to check my upcoming schedule. Once he found out what had happened, he asked if I minded getting things in my regular e-mail. No. And by the way, it wasn't just you. The system kicked out my wife too. Come on boss. You make enough you can afford better than this.

I also have fun and joy with the credit card app. we have. Before, we had swipers you could put in your pocket along with your phone. Now we have something that is about 8 inches long, 3 inches wide, and 2 1/2 inches thick. You also have to log in and out whenever you are on duty. If I use my phone and manually type in the card, it takes just as long, does the exact same thing, and the other app. I need for doing the job is right there in my hand. The only problems with it are that the silly thing logs me out if I don't use it every 1/2 hour, and there are times when I look like a teenager in a slasher movie. Just can't seem to get a signal. It is a pain to have to log in EVERY TIME I use it, but it is a lot easier to carry than the other thing. I leave it in the glove compartment.

Of course, the holidays are causing their own problems. Our son and daughter in law are coming home for a few days. This was after the schedule was finalized and so I have to work two of the days they are here. I'm sorry to say they won't be with us on Christmas Day, but I'll be happy to have whatever time I can get with them. The other problem is the time period of the 24 to 26. We are closed Christmas Day. I am working Christmas Eve, and the day after Christmas. We have been invited to spend Christmas Day with my wife's family in Orlando. I do believe in family first, but This is just a bit much. I'll spend 12 hours on duty. Get up on the 25th and drive to Orlando. A little over 2 hours. Spend about half the day with the family, do a 'white elephant' gift exchange, then drive home so I can pull another 12 hour shift the next day. I don't think so.
 

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To be honest, he couldn't do much else. There are two guys sharing the small van. Myself and the other guy. He is young, has small children from a previous relationship. Good relations between parents by the way. Which is good for the kids. Now as far as I go, I'm an old man. My son and DIL will be gone before Christmas is even here. This past year has been a tough one on my family. We lost my brother and his wife, separately and within two months of each other. I can't think of a single member of the family that hasn't had other things go bad. For us, we had to gut and redo the entire kitchen because of a water leak. Five months to get that fixed. Then the fridge went bye-bye. My wife HAD to have what she wanted. Another six months. That was followed by the microwave, and to top it off, the water heater went out. All in less than a year. Many of the others in the family have had it worse. My Mom has decided to cancel the family Christmas this year.

Given the circumstances, giving this young guy a few days with his kids is more important than me sitting here with my wife, missing our son and DIL who just left.
 
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Oh yes, I forgot to mention. We had another little communications screwup. Earlier today I had to open a storage unit. It was at U-Haul. Sometimes folks don't pay their bills with U-Haul. U-Haul changes the lock and hold whatever is inside until the bill is paid. So, we have a new policy I just found out about. When we open a storage unit, there is a special document that must be signed in case we are cutting U-Haul's lock instead of the customers. It just covers us legally. Nobody told me. I didn't find the document in my e-mail until about two hours after the fact. Ooppps. Boss, if you want me to do things a certain way, please tell me before I get to the job.
 
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