Comments The Locksmith Journals

Meemur

Meemur

Voice on the Prairie / FJB!
I was moving on a budget but still safety-minded. I had to go to two different hardware stores, but I bought 4 new Schlage locks, already keyed alike, installed them myself, and hid an extra key somewhere safe for me to access in case of lock-out.

As I recall, it was around $300 for the locks, but that was still cheaper than a locksmith and that gave me some peace of mind. The previous owner was male party animal. Who knows who had keys?

If I had run into problems, I would've called a locksmith, but that was one of the things I looked over before I bought the house: the doors and locks were in good shape, but they were the cheap Kwikset locks, which I hate -- they break! I've had well-maintained Schlage locks that hung on doors for years with no problems. (Yes, they all get a shot of WD-40 in the fall.)
 
day late

day late

money? whats that?
My spidey-sense is tingling again. Nothing bad this time, but something has changed. All these years I've been the 'emergency guy'. House and car lockouts where the vast majority of the jobs I did. I'd get the occasional re-key or install. But for the past few weeks I've been getting a lot more of the re-keys. They are now the majority of what I do. A whole new breed of craziness there. In just the past few days, twice I had to go to a place, re-key one lock and that was it. The odd one was when I had to drive down to Ocala to re-key the front door to a former bar, as the former tenants were moving out. The landlord was pleased with the service, so all was good. I just don't understand why the folks in Ocala couldn't handle it. I was told that the reason was on that day, they had only one guy down there and he needed the help. That makes sense to a point. Except that this job was put on my schedule three days ahead of time. How could anyone know just how busy he would be that far ahead of time? But what really got my attention was after the job was finished I had to contact the manager about some billing questions and she asked me,

"What are you doing in Ocala?"

Sounds like something behind the scenes. Getting back to the re-keys. When I have to re-key multiple locks, I count out and separate the pins I'm going to need for all of the locks I'm doing, before I start. Makes it go faster when you already have the pin you need ready, when you need it. One thing I always do when I get the lock apart, is to put the new key I'm going to use into the plug, with the pins still in it. Every so often You will have a pin just the right height in just the right position so you don't have to replace that pin. If you're lucky you might even have two pins the right size and in the right position. When I was sent to the job, I was told four locks. I wound up with nine of them. But what saved me on this occasion was when I put the new key in the plug, I had to change one pin. That was it. Just one pin in all of the locks. I was in and out so fast I think I set a record.

And we have one last one for the "How did you do that?" file. I got to the job and was told the keys were in the trunk, sort of. I got to the back of the car and I can see the key ring sticking out from under the trunk lid. How do you close the trunk ON the key? I can understand locking them in the trunk, but between the lid and the car body? That takes talent.
 
day late

day late

money? whats that?
It was late last night when I posted this, so I forgot another 'interesting' job. This one falls under the "Get in, get out, and keep your big mouth shut" category.

I give credit to the guy. He did the right thing and did his homework ahead of time. I was called to specifically change the deadbolt on the front door to a smart-key lock. A little odd, but okay. While I'm removing the old, perfectly good deadbolt from the door, his wife calls. Or I should say the ex-wife. I wasn't eavesdropping, but I'm sitting right there and he is in the same room. I can't help but hear his side of the conversation. Again, I wasn't really listening, until I heard him say,

"I've got the locksmith here right now, changing the locks."

Turns out that while he was out of town, the ex-wife and some of her friends decided to have a party. No big deal, except they had it at HIS apartment and left the mess behind. He wasn't happy. I'm glad I'm not involved with this one. She is wanting to get back together, as is. He says he's already in counseling and wants her to get into it as well. Then, MAYBE! I'm not involved, but there's no way I would get back together with someone who had proven they had that little respect for me. The old saw isn't quite true. Love does not forgive ALL things. Ya got to show some respect.
 
day late

day late

money? whats that?
I said there were tingles. Let me tell you a little about the guy I currently am sharing the van with. He's a good locksmith. He knows what he is doing and is good at it. He gets a ton of reviews on google, all of them good. But he is just a little bit out there. He knows a lot and understands little. One time when we were together, he's telling me he is Christian. Yet everything he says about Christianity is wrong. Not just wrong, but badly wrong. For instance, on one occasion, he was going on about how our future is determined by the stars, and says,

"Even Christians worship stars."

Uhhh, no. They don't. They acknowledge the Star of Bethlehem leading the wise men to Jesus, but we don't worship stars. We worship The Creator, not the creation.

"Really?"

Another time he had trapped a wasp under a glass, but because he was in a 'all life is sacred' phase, he didn't kill it. He just left it trapped. He said that a little later the bug was communicating with him somehow, and he just had to let the thing go free.

So, it seems today he went off the deep end with a customer somehow. He is being given some time off to reflect on his behavior. I was called and asked to pick up some of the slack. I am supposed to be off for five days. I'm getting two. Who knows if this guy is going to come back or not. Sometimes, I hate that spidey tingle.
 
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day late

money? whats that?
Excuse me.


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!! STUPID, WORTHLESS, CHINESE JUNK!!!!

I'm still a tad upset, as you might be able to tell. This afternoon it should have been a simple job, even with the twist thrown in when I arrived. Re-key three deadbolts, that's all. Should have been a half hour max. I get there and the couple has decided that I should also re-key two doorknobs. No big deal. Add another twenty minutes. The customer even had working keys for the locks. The first deadbolt went quickly and no problem at all. The second and third deadbolts LOOK normal, but I soon find out the cylinder that holds the plug is plastic. On top on that they are about a third of a millimeter smaller in diameter than other locks. That means I have to remove every pin and spring in the lock. I re-key the plug but now, using tweezers and hemostats, I have to put in the springs and driver pins, one set at a time, while pushing the plug back in, to hold them in position. In short, I needed four hands about one fifth the size of mine to keep everything in place as they went back together.

What should have taken a half hour to 45 minutes, actually took three and a half hours and I didn't get to do the doorknobs. Stupid Chinese locks. Even the pins that I put in were all the wrong size (Too short or too long. NEVER the right size). I had to file each of them to get the plug to turn in the lock.

Sorry, I'm not happy tonight.

Edit to add: At one point, early on, the lady on dispatch recommended that I suggest upgrading the locks to the customer. Easier to re-key and brand new. Nope. The house is a rental and they don't want to anger the landlord. He's okay with a re-key, as long as he gets a key. But he likes the style and doesn't want it changed. (Meaning he put on the cheapest garbage he could find and doesn't want to spend more.) Re-keying is my only option.
 
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feralferret

feralferret

Veteran Member
day late said:
But he likes the style and doesn't want it changed. (Meaning he put on the cheapest garbage he could find and doesn't want to spend more.) Re-keying is my only option.
Click to expand...
And with the plastic parts, the service life will be much shorter and may very well result in an expensive service call when it fails. In the long run it would be cheaper to put a somewhat better grade lock in place. Some people are as the saying goes, "Penny wise and pound foolish".
 
day late

day late

money? whats that?
Goodness. It has been quite the ride recently. Not too much in the way of customers, but there have been one or two. Now that the other guy is back at work, I've gotten some time off, so to speak. It seems nobody ever explained what retirement means to my wife. But I guess that's about normal. The thing is that yesterday evening I got an appointment for next Monday. This one has to fall under one of two categories. The first is 'More dollars than sense' and the second possible deception. I mean someone explain this to me. I have an appointment on Monday morning. This job involves buying one of those realtor lock boxes, the kind they put on the door with a code so that all the realtors can access the home while they are selling it. Once I arrive, I meet and greet the realtor, put the box on the door and charge him/her $155+tax for doing it. The box costs $40 at Lowes. WHY would a realtor pay that much for a box he/she can buy for themselves, to be put on the front door of a house that's up for sale? The only thing I can think of is that the realtor is incredibly lazy, or they are going to try to pull that old, 'By the way. While you are here....' kind of thing and try to get me to do some things off the books. Well, that's not going to work. It's like back in the day when I was still doing dental work. Sometimes the doctor would ask if I could do something out of the norm. Like say, bump his case ahead of the others that I already had. I would always inform him,

"Yes. I can do that. But Doctor you have to understand that what you are asking falls into the 'special services' category. And special services ALWAYS come with special prices."

Most of the time they decided that their case wasn't THAT special. Like ABBA sang, 'Money, money, money. Always sunny. In a rich man's world.'

But that cuts both ways. The boss always wants us to 'upsell' on every job. At this time of year, students for the University of Florida are starting to move into town. Parents, especially parents of young ladies, want to be sure their children are safe. When they find an apartment for the kid, first thing they want is to be sure nobody else has a key to that apartment. It doesn't matter how much it costs. Just help me keep my daughter/son safe. Case in point. There was a call last Friday. Mom wanted the deadbolt on the front door replaced. She had already decided to have a Smart Key keypad lock installed. I told her it was a wise choice and explained how the only guy I ever knew who picked one had to invest over $400 for equipment and then it took 45 minutes to actually get the thing to turn. Also, the beauty of these things is that even if there are no batteries in the lock for the keypad, the key still works. That means if the young lady has a roommate that doesn't work out, she can evict them. If she has lost the instructions for re-programming the lock, just take the batteries out. She has the tool for re-keying the lock as well as the written instructions on how to do it. So as soon as the roomie is gone, rekey the lock and take out the batteries. Nobody is getting in. Mom liked that idea. She asked if I happened to have a non-keypad Smart Key for the back door. Why yes, I do. I carry a number of them in the van. Mom 'upsold' herself. Before I left, I had the daughter actually re-key the back door to the front door, so she knew how it was done. Now if the need arises, there is no need to call the locksmith, she can handle it herself. Each lock comes with its own set of keys, so if she has to do this, she already has a spare set of keys to re-key the lock to. Win-win. Mom is happy because daughter's apartment is now safer, and the boss is happy because I made more money for the company.

I must say that there was one surprise handed to me during the bi-weekly meeting we had last Monday. Please understand. I am and have always been a working man. You give me a job and I will get it done or die in the attempt. That's just the way I am. My word means a lot to me. During the meetings, I guess to inspire others to work harder, the top money earners for the last pay period are announced. Since I'm just part time, I don't pay much attention to that. Last Monday it caught my attention. In the previous pay period of two weeks, I worked only 7 days. Three one week and four the next. They said during that time I pulled down over $5,000 for the company. It made me the third highest earner for that period. That has got to embarrass these young full-timers. Having the part-time old fart out work all of them except two? That doesn't look too good for them. Well, the boss always said that the money was in the re-keys. I've done quite a few of them recently. I always told the boss, if you want me to get faster on the re-keys, you have to send me the work. After eight years I think the truth of what I've been saying all along has finally sunk in.
 
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day late

day late

money? whats that?
I hope this isn't going to become a pattern. I've said before that a previous manager we had called me the king of the two-fers. It seemed about half the time when I went to do one job, I ended up getting two. Something similar is now happening. In the past ten days or so I've been getting a different kind of doubles. First, I got two jobs one right behind the other, in which I had to go in and re-key the home, so the ex-spouse, or soon-to-be ex-spouse couldn't get into the home. It was during one of these jobs I found out we seem to be hammering our biggest competitor. The lady at the job said she called them first. She called on a Friday morning. She told me that they told her the soonest they would be able to get to her was the following Monday. That wasn't good enough. She needed him locked out right now. She called us and I had her home done before 3:00 that day. I asked the supervisor why the other guys didn't send someone out sooner. I was informed they are short on staff. Why, I don't know, but if they keep dropping jobs like this, it won't be good for them.

The second two-fer was rather sad. In both cases, I had to re-key the home, because next-of-kin didn't know who may or may not have a key. They needed to secure the home before the estate could be settled. In one of those cases, I wish I had known the recently departed. I went to remove a deadbolt from a door, and laying on the table next to me is a muzzle loading double barreled shotgun. The next lock I went to had about a .50 cal. flintlock pistol laying on the breakfast bar near the door. When I reached the third door, there was no weapon. Just the stock of what may have been a .22 rifle. The late homeowner and I had a lot in common. Oh yes, I almost forgot. They also had me give the gun safe upstairs a shot while I was there.

This was followed with two jobs on the same day when the lock either couldn't be picked or was just being a pain in the neck. In both cases after a good effort on the lock I would explain this either couldn't be done, or it was taking too long to get done. So, I was going to look around for a second way in. Both times I was told that the owner was certain all the windows were locked. They were VERY careful about that. Both times, I ended up climbing through and open window, much to the shock of the homeowner.

Finally, twice I was sent to re-key a home. Twice I was told it was only four locks. Both times that was the number of doors, not the number of locks. Each job went from four locks to seven.

Seems like a pattern. Not one I want to continue. I'd really hate to copy really bad days, one after the other.
 
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day late

day late

money? whats that?
I think I've had my last two-fer for awhile. Last Tuesday I went to open an apartment and just before I get there, there is another call. A business lockout. No big deal. I finish up with the apartment, take care of the paperwork and start looking at the map to see how long it is going to take me to get there. The place is five minutes away and a local business. They say the key doesn't work at all on the back door any more and hard to use on the front door. I'm hoping this is like it sounds. Another job for WD-40. Mainly because this store uses a type of lock called Medico. Those things have never been anything but a hard time for me. I start out and when I'm maybe three minutes away I get a call from dispatch. Cancel. They are giving the job to the boss's son. Works for me.

In the meantime, I got another car lockout. This one on the other side of town, just at the beginning of evening rush hour. IF I'm lucky what should be a ten-minute trip will only take between fifteen and twenty. I have to take one of the few main north/south roads in town to get there. I'm on my way and a text comes through. Cancel. The customer got in by themselves. When the text arrived when I was 1/2 block from the left turn I had to take to go home. Good timing.

Then came this evening. Just when things seem to be going smoothly, someone rocks the boat. I'm not entirely sure what happened, but the boss called an emergency meeting tonight. I was told something happened today and we all had to be there. Well, I was off today, so I didn't do anything. It turns out that one of our smiths down in Ocala is married to one of the ladies working dispatch. They both got fired today when the boss found out they were trying to set up a competing business. They were picking up everything from needed skills in running a business of this type, to possibly helping themselves to some of our customers on the side. Needless to say, bossman not happy. Husband and wife both get canned. Being short a smith in Ocala I'm sad to say is becoming rather commonplace. We deal with it. But being short on dispatch, that's another thing. Then, wouldn't you know it. A lady who had worked for us before and left under favorable circumstances called about an hour after the firings and asked if the boss was hiring. Some days, The Good Lord just smiles on you.
 
day late

day late

money? whats that?
Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool!

You might get the idea that I am rather pleased right now. I had two neat things happen today. The first has happened before, but it is always fun. The customer somehow locked the house keys in the car and the car keys in the house. It would have been less expensive for me to open the car, but they asked for the house. After they were in the house, I offered the usual advice on where to hide a spare key for the door, behind the license plate. I explained it is wise to use the straight blade screws to hold the plate on because they are easier to remove. At this point the husband pulled his keys from his pocket, walked over to a GPD cruiser, which was his work car, and started to unscrew the plate. He saw how easy it was and then tightened the screw back. He walked over and thanked me for teaching him a new trick. Notch up one more cop in the old gun belt.

But the thing that has me really pleased is what happened with the boss's son today. I had to drop by the shop, first thing, to pick up some things. Laying there on the desk is a book. "Safe Cracking 101". It belongs to the son, as much as I wanted to grab it, I left it on the desk. A couple of hours later we ran into each other, and I mentioned it to him. He said he has no problem with me borrowing it. At last! I get to learn how to open safes. This is gonna be fun.
 
day late

day late

money? whats that?
Sorry it's been so long. Things got complicated. First was the storm. For us, it wasn't too bad. A lot of wind and rain, but the wind was far lighter than it could have been. That was a blessing. Only a few branches down, which were easy to clear up. The worst thing about the storm was Mrs. late. She's always convinced that the roof is going to fall in and goes crazy from about 24 hours before it gets close, until the time when we can say it has passed. Must be love, I haven't killed her yet. After a couple of days of clean up was a few days of unremarkable work. That was followed by a few more days of honey-do's. Today was the only day anything of note happened.

Getting paid is always a good thing. Most customers pay up without a word other than 'thank you for coming'. After the job is done, and after they have already agreed to the price, some think I didn't work hard enough or something and want to dispute the price. That doesn't work. When they sign to allow me to begin, they also agree to pay for services rendered. Sometimes they get the boss or manager on the horn and talk them into a discount. But this lady today was something else.

The car is in the driveway. Key in the center console. No biggie. But I can't help but notice that the driver's seat is the only place in the car you can sit down. Every other square inch is covered with something. As I'm waiting for her to come out of the house I see box after box of all kinds of stuff on the front porch. Much of it cat related. Food, litter, that sort of thing. I also can't help but see that she is having a really hard time opening the front door. It was as if there was something wedged against the door from the inside and she was trying to get around it. I got the car open after getting her signature, and then she is depending on Wells Fargo to tell her what the card number is, so she can pay me. Wells Fargo is down. I had to sit there for 30 minutes for her to give that up. She has no cash. I can the manager. She says Ok, this time take a check. The lady forces open the door again and goes for the check book. It is in the purse. After another 10 minutes, she forces the door open and tells me she can't find the purse. But if she could, that's where the card is anyway. I won't drag this out further. I was told that she is supposed to pay, first thing in the morning. I will say this. The lady herself was clean and decently dressed. The car and the house both smelled rather badly. If the inside of the house was like the inside of the car, it's no wonder she has trouble finding things.
 
day late

day late

money? whats that?
It just gets gooder and gooder sometimes. I do believe I'm in Dutch with the boss. It started with the hoarding cat lady. She promised to pay, and then things went weird. She was supposed to meet me at the shop on Sunday at 2:30 to give me a check for services rendered. She didn't show. So, between jobs today I was told to go by her place and see about payment. Nobody is home. After the last job of the day, which is another one I have to get to, I'm told to go back again. This time she is home. She agrees to write the check. She leaves the front door as far open as she can manage. There's a bag of cat food blocking it. She turns to get the check book. Thirty minutes later the neighbor from across the street ask's me what I'm doing there. I explain and he tells me I'm going to be waiting for a long time. The lady has mental issues. After about 45 minutes the neighbor calls her brother. The one in Calif. He agrees to pay THIS ONCE!!! He doesn't want to see us using his card again. AND NEXT TIME, get the money from his sister and don't bother him again.

The next part of why I'm in Dutch, but it worked out, was this A.M. I'm called to open a home. I do and everything is fine until she asks me if she can pay on-line. Her card is at the office and she's late for work. SHE can't pay. More calls, more negotiations. I leave without the money. This lady I don't worry about. She's in a uniform and is teaching in a medical school according to the logo on her shirt. I did get her in, and as promised, about two hours after she got to work, she called up and paid. But I heard from her later.

The boss isn't happy because almost the exact same thing happened twice in three days. I can understand that. But it's been too long since he was on the road. He's forgotten that things happen. I have no way to tell about the customers' ability to pay, until it comes time to settle up. By then the job is done and there's no un-doing it. You don't ask for money until the job is done, pure and simple. In both cases, the bill ended up being paid, but he thinks it shouldn't have happened. I think the problem could be solved by having the ladies who take the call ask about method of payment. Then I don't end up in a parking lot, at night, in a bad area, arguing about money with someone I've never seen before. We gotta work this one out.

I said I'd get back to the second customer. The front door was a smart key lock, but the back door was a sliding glass door. I was though it in no time. It was discovered later that I had damaged the lock. This is just me. I break it, I buy it. Once I got back over there, (that last call) I found the problem. The lock had to be replaced, so I ran over to the store, picked up what I needed, went back and installed it. No charge. The customer is very happy and left a nice review for me. Then I found out 1/2 hour ago I left my drill at their place. I have to get it tomorrow.

It was after that I spent an hour waiting on the other lady. I usually have supper at 6:30. My wife likes to watch the evening snooze. I got home a little after 9. Now on top of that the van I'm driving has needed to be serviced for quite some time. I have to be at the dealership by 8. The appointment is 8:30 but we have to transfer tools to another van. One from Ocala. I drive that one from 10 A.M. to 2 P.M. in Gainesville, then I have to be available to go to Ocala until I get off at 8.

No, I'm not too happy right now.
 
Texican

Texican

Live Free & Die Free.... God Freedom Country....
The lock had to be replaced, so I ran over to the store, picked up what I needed, went back and installed it. No charge. The customer is very happy and left a nice review for me. Then I found out 1/2 hour ago I left my drill at their place. I have to get it tomorrow.

DL,

Sometimes things just do not work out the way that you wish.

Texican....
 
day late

day late

money? whats that?
Sorry it's been so long. With the grandbaby almost here I got a little distracted.

One of the hazards of this job is people remember you. Normally, that's a good thing. They happen to see you in the street, smile, greet you, and thank you again for what you did. No big deal. Then we have the ones who save my private number, for future use. I have to call the customer with an ETA before I even leave. Their phone captures my number and there you have it. Save the number and add my name or 'locksmith' and they will remember you. Such was the case the other day. Now I admit, sometimes things go wrong and I make up for it. Basically, I broke it, I bought it. I got a lady into her house though the glass slider and damaged the lock. The damage didn't show until later. I checked it, saw what happened, ran out and picked up a replacement, and put it on their door. No charge. They were happy, that keeps the boss happy, the lock was less than $10, everybody wins. The next night at around 10:30 I get a text from the lady and her husband. He's just returned home from Ga. (an 18-hour drive) and accidently locked himself out of the company car, with the engine running. NOBODY is open at this hour. Can I please help. The good thing is they are 5 minutes away. I'm off duty and don't have the van, but I have a few tools of my own. And they tipped good the first time around, why not do a quick little side job?

I did it, but they didn't have cash. They could pay by card, but that means explaining why I'm working more than two hours after we closed. I agree that we can meet up the next day and they can pay in cash then. The next day came and went without a call from them. My wife is upset that they haven't paid and I just figure to tell the boss when I go back on duty and have them black-listed. The day after that they contact me. They apologize for missing the payment the day before, and since we are on our way back from Jacksonville, can we stop by and pay you tonight?

What do you say? Sure stop by but please try to do it by 9. My wife goes to bed shortly after that. First on the couch, then the bed a 1/2 hour later. They did, right at 9, but they did pay. As they were leaving the husband joked at me,

"If we ever need a locksmith again, at least we know who to call."

Sometimes popularity can be a drag,
 
S

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
day late said:
Sorry it's been so long. With the grandbaby almost here I got a little distracted.

One of the hazards of this job is people remember you. Normally, that's a good thing. They happen to see you in the street, smile, greet you, and thank you again for what you did. No big deal. Then we have the ones who save my private number, for future use. I have to call the customer with an ETA before I even leave. Their phone captures my number and there you have it. Save the number and add my name or 'locksmith' and they will remember you. Such was the case the other day. Now I admit, sometimes things go wrong and I make up for it. Basically, I broke it, I bought it. I got a lady into her house though the glass slider and damaged the lock. The damage didn't show until later. I checked it, saw what happened, ran out and picked up a replacement, and put it on their door. No charge. They were happy, that keeps the boss happy, the lock was less than $10, everybody wins. The next night at around 10:30 I get a text from the lady and her husband. He's just returned home from Ga. (an 18-hour drive) and accidently locked himself out of the company car, with the engine running. NOBODY is open at this hour. Can I please help. The good thing is they are 5 minutes away. I'm off duty and don't have the van, but I have a few tools of my own. And they tipped good the first time around, why not do a quick little side job?

I did it, but they didn't have cash. They could pay by card, but that means explaining why I'm working more than two hours after we closed. I agree that we can meet up the next day and they can pay in cash then. The next day came and went without a call from them. My wife is upset that they haven't paid and I just figure to tell the boss when I go back on duty and have them black-listed. The day after that they contact me. They apologize for missing the payment the day before, and since we are on our way back from Jacksonville, can we stop by and pay you tonight?

What do you say? Sure stop by but please try to do it by 9. My wife goes to bed shortly after that. First on the couch, then the bed a 1/2 hour later. They did, right at 9, but they did pay. As they were leaving the husband joked at me,

"If we ever need a locksmith again, at least we know who to call."

Sometimes popularity can be a drag,
Click to expand...
Sometimes you can't win! I hope they tipped you!

Also, if they abuse the privilege, there's this little magic word called "no!" You can soften it, or not, depending on how demanding they're being or how ridiculous the request is. The running company car... that was pretty close to an emergency. But if they come home tipsy after an evening out, and have problems at 1 am.... well, either don't answer the phone, or simply say the earliest you can get there is first thing in the morning. If they get snippy, be firm, tell the boss to blacklist them, and block their number.

Summerthyme
 
day late

day late

money? whats that?
I'm glad the last few days are over. It's been something else. Don't get me wrong. I like my boss. I've learned a lot from him and because of him. He's not one of those who is looking over your shoulder all the time. He's got a decent sense of humor. Nice guy. But I guess with a lot of people, there are certain things that they just shouldn't be trusted with. With my boss, it's basically anything to do with administration. In the early years and up until about the time Covid hit, we were always running out of something. Once managers took over that part of the business, things improved. I don't know what it is, but the man has a real aversion to vehicle maintenance.

Before the manager that was fired a while back, even got into trouble I was telling him about the 'check engine' light that stayed lighted. He said he would check into it. It wound up the van was down for a week, because of cascading problems that could have been prevented. Even after the van was back on the road, it still wasn't right. It stutters badly under acceleration but smooths out a little at a constant speed. It got so bad, I went by his place and put him behind the wheel. I asked him to drive to an intersection that's about 3/4 of a mile from his house. Then turn around and drive back. He made it to the end of the block before he circled around and went home. Currently the van is STILL in the shop, waiting to have some kind of emission control sensor replaced.

Okay. He brings up one of the vans from Ocala and on days when it is busy down there, whoever has the van goes to Ocala. From the first time I heard that thing I knew there was trouble. BAD knocking coming from under the hood. The boss says it's fine, don't worry, just do your job. The first time the guy I share that van with heard it, he called it a death rattle. Can't say I disagree. So, just before he going to hand it off to me, he was coming back from a job. There was a BANG under the hood the temperature spiked. The engine was still running, this was something else. He pulls over, what water is remaining in the system is draining out when he looks. The manager is telling him to put water in it. He tells the manager it's coming out as fast as he is pouring it in. Long story short, this was late Friday evening. The van had blown a water pump. It's now in the shop for a few days. Sat. Sun. Mon. and Tues. I ended up driving the car that belongs to the boss's mother-in-law. The first thing that happens is the car tells me the tires are low. Not one or two. Three out of four tires are low, and I have to drive this thing. I get the tires all up, and now it is telling me that an oil change is needed NOW!!! I have to take it in for that. Once it got up to road worthy, I'm ready for work but I have a bare minimum of things to work with or supplies to carry with me.

Of course, I had a job on Monday, in Ocala. It would turn out to be fortunate that Tuesday I ended up in Ocala all day. Do not ask me how I did it, but at that job I did on Monday I somehow managed to leave my house keys behind. The lady I worked for was kind enough to send me a picture. No doubt. My keys. What has really disturbed me though is that during the time I had that Jeep I lost my favorite pick. I made another and then not only lost that one, but the tension wrench I use picking locks as well. I didn't even notice the second loss until Tuesday. Thank The Lord, none of the jobs that day required picking.

I'm sitting on the latest set of picks, but I've got to be careful now. I ran out of wire to make them. I can get more, next time I get my oil changed. The wire comes from old wiper blades. Again, Thank The Lord we have the Ocala van back. Now if we can just get the other one.
 
day late

day late

money? whats that?
What do you know? Today we had another first. This is the first, and probably the only, time I have been invited to a wedding three times, gone there twice, and actually got in once. It was a quiet morning. A couple of cars and a house. Not much. Then in the afternoon I got a call. I have to go out of town, and one way, north, it's 35 minutes. Not only that, it's a wedding and I need to get there ASAP. As usual, I call the customer with an ETA. I should be there by about 3:30. That's no good. The ceremony is about to start. Can I come out at 4? Sure. No problem. At 4 I'm sitting at the end of the driveway when the customer calls me back. He says he has a way in, thanks anyway.

Now I have a 35 minute drive back to Gainesville. No sooner than I pull in the driveway than the phone jingles and I have another job, 35 minutes south of home. I mean I pulled in, shut the engine off, the phone rings and I start the car to head out for the next one. I get there, it is a simple car lockout. I'm done in just a couple of minutes. As I'm leaving, I get a call. I'm needed back at the wedding. It seems the guys sure-fire method of getting in, wasn't. We close at 8. By the time I got there, I was already ten minutes into overtime. BUT...this time the lady on the phone took payment before she even sent me the job.

There was also one of those "AH-HA!!!" moments today. There is a way to lever back the latch on a doorknob, even when it is locked. Kwikset has recently redesigned their latches slightly to stop this from happening. I found out the need to find a way around this new latch a couple of days ago. No matter what I did, the latch wouldn't come open. I thought about it for a while, then thought of something that just might work. It did. So now it doesn't matter which type of latch they throw at me, I'm ready.
 
day late

day late

money? whats that?
Oh me, oh my. Heinlein certainly got it right.

"Never underestimate the power of human stupidity."

I got a call yesterday to go to Starke. That's a town about 50 minutes north of me. When I called the customer to give him an ETA, I was informed he was the property manager and needed to get into a house. No big deal. People who run short on time, money, and opportunity bail on landlords, because they can't pay the rent, all the time. I was informed that the manager and friends had already tried to gain entry to the home and failed. That's why they called us. This is not good news. When people who don't know what they are doing try to do it anyway, things always go bad. I know I'm in trouble before I even got in the car to go there.

I have pictures on my phone. I would post them, but I always do something wrong and upset Dennis, so I'll just ask you to use your imagination. When I arrived, I found that somehow the manager and friends had removed both the doorknob and the deadbolt. This shouldn't be a problem. SHOULDN'T BE! Don't ask me how they did it. I can't figure it all out. The knob and deadbolt lock are on the ground when I got there. The latch for the knob and the bolt for the deadbolt are both still in place. I have to work INSIDE the door, meaning very little room, to pull back the bolt and pull back the latch. The bolt wasn't a problem. With the lock gone, I just had to slide it back. The latch however, is spring loaded. Even with the lock gone, the spring pushes the latch into the hole in the frame to secure the door. All of the pieces that make the lock work are missing or laying on the ground at my feet. Only that spring loaded latch is left. To make a long story short, I had to finish the job of completely destroying the latch to get rid of those springs, in order to get it out of the door, and the door open.

$145 to finish what they started and get the door open. Then add in the cost of replacement locks. It would have been cheaper to just have us come out, pick the locks and then re-key them.

R. A. Heinlein was right.
 
day late

day late

money? whats that?
accountant said:
just another "Why do we need to pay someone to do it when I can do it myself? Trust me, honey, I got this. I'll have it finished in no time" moment.

A.
Click to expand...

Otherwise known as,

"Here. Hold my beer."

I'm off until Monday but can't help but wonder how the saga of the van is going and just how many of the bosses' bad habits may have rubbed off. It's been something like three weeks to get this van fixed. It should have taken about three hours. During that time, we've had a couple of different SUV's we've been driving. That's fine. We can't carry everything we need, but we can still handle most things. The first car I drove belongs to his M-I-L. From the first time I got in it, I had to inflate three tires and get and oil change, as I've mentioned. The manager gave full blessings to getting this thing taken care of right away. I wonder how it got that bad in the first place. There is a display right in front of your face. Anyway, keep the wife's mom happy, you keep the wife happy. Okay. I get that. But haven't you learned anything?

The last vehicle I drove was a rental, provided by the dealership that is supposed to be doing the repairs. When I get it, there is a 'heads up' display. Engine oil change recommended. I called it in. Manager tells me it's the dealerships vehicle, so it's their problem. The next day it's telling me, Oil Change Required. I call it in. Told it's not our problem. I drove that thing for another two days like that. I'm just glad it didn't blow up. Finally, I get the call. The van is ready. Go by the boss's house and pick it up. I run over, transfer everything back into the van from the SUV, then head home for the night.

The next morning, I spent an hour or so sorting things out. I got a couple of calls. The boss sent a text asking about the van and I had to tell him everything was running fine. No problems at all. That was about 10 A.M. By 4:30 I notified the manager that the 'Check Engine' light had just come on. I go back to work on Monday morning. I wonder what I'm going to be driving.
 
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