Comments The Locksmith Journals
- Thread starter day late
- Start date
day late
money? whats that?
Well, a little humility never hurt anyone, right? Last Tuesday was something. On Monday I told the manager I needed to be able to leave town as soon as possible on Tuesday. I needed to get to Mom's house, so we could get to her doctors appointment by 8 A.M. She said remind her in the morning and she would speak to the ladies on the phone. I did. Mid-afternoon I get a call to go to Ocala. Annoying, but nothing I can't handle. Then they tell me. The customer wants 50 keys for one certain door. Problem 1. We have no idea of what kind of locks they are. Different locks have different keyways. Problem 2. No matter which keyway it is, I don't have that many blanks in the van. That means going by the shop and picking up blanks for three different keyways. Problem 3. I know the key cutter isn't working right. I call the boss and he tells me to bring the van by his place and he will adjust it. That's when other things started happening.
After a twenty-minute trip, I have to go to the end of this one block, turn left, go about 100 feet and turn left again onto the road the boss lives on. As I make the second to last turn, the boss is in his car headed out, going the other way. Excuse me! You tell me to come over and then leave before I can get there? I don't see a great deal of respect there. Anyway, we stopped in the street, and he did the adjustments.
Now I'm off to Ocala. Turns out, I just didn't have what was needed to do the lock with the 50 keys. It had an interchangeable core, and we don't do those. I did the rest of the job and put the customer in touch with the manager to work out what could be done. By this time, it is 5. I have just enough time to get home, swap out the van and get on the road to Mom. Nope. I get another call I have to handle. By the time I left Ocala, it was about 7, and I have an hour and a half drive to get back to Gainesville. By the time I swap the van, eat something and then get to Mom, it's going to be around 11. I'm not seeing a lot of respect here either.
I mentioned being humbled. The Lord does work in some strange ways. I was so busy being righteously indignant over the things that had happened, I didn't notice when I topped off the van before turning it over, I left the bosses credit card in the pump. I didn't even notice for several days. Fortunately, the card was recovered, and no harm done.
I guess The Lord was telling me to climb down off of my high horse and have some humble pie. We all make mistakes.
But there are times you want to say something soooo badly and all you can do is swallow it, smile and say 'Yes, Sir/Ma'am'. The last call of the day today. I guy locks himself out of the apartment when he went to walk the dog. This should be quick and easy. Just a doorknob. Yeah, right. I've said before that there are certain types of pins you can put in a lock to make it really hard to pick. Most often these are spool pins. But there are others. The worst for me is a T pin. It works a lot like a spool pin, by kicking sideways and biding up unless picked exactly right. But T pins are about 1,000 times worse than a spool pin. I didn't know it, but found out, this doorknob had at least three of them in there. I spent a good twenty minutes throwing everything at this lock that I've got. Nothing worked. I was literally putting away my tools and getting ready to tell the guy I just couldn't do it without destroying the lock, when he tells me,
"Oh, we don't care if you have to drill it. We're planning on replacing it anyway." He thought for a second and said, "I guess I should have started with that."
I just spent twenty minutes trying to pick a lock that I could have drilled in two? I seriously want to hurt this guy. But I smile go back to the first floor and to the van. Grab the drill and not only had him in in about two minutes, but also managed to drill it so that even though the lock was now dead, the doorknob it's self still worked. He was pleased. He left a nice review. But why didn't you say something sooner?
After a twenty-minute trip, I have to go to the end of this one block, turn left, go about 100 feet and turn left again onto the road the boss lives on. As I make the second to last turn, the boss is in his car headed out, going the other way. Excuse me! You tell me to come over and then leave before I can get there? I don't see a great deal of respect there. Anyway, we stopped in the street, and he did the adjustments.
Now I'm off to Ocala. Turns out, I just didn't have what was needed to do the lock with the 50 keys. It had an interchangeable core, and we don't do those. I did the rest of the job and put the customer in touch with the manager to work out what could be done. By this time, it is 5. I have just enough time to get home, swap out the van and get on the road to Mom. Nope. I get another call I have to handle. By the time I left Ocala, it was about 7, and I have an hour and a half drive to get back to Gainesville. By the time I swap the van, eat something and then get to Mom, it's going to be around 11. I'm not seeing a lot of respect here either.
I mentioned being humbled. The Lord does work in some strange ways. I was so busy being righteously indignant over the things that had happened, I didn't notice when I topped off the van before turning it over, I left the bosses credit card in the pump. I didn't even notice for several days. Fortunately, the card was recovered, and no harm done.
I guess The Lord was telling me to climb down off of my high horse and have some humble pie. We all make mistakes.
But there are times you want to say something soooo badly and all you can do is swallow it, smile and say 'Yes, Sir/Ma'am'. The last call of the day today. I guy locks himself out of the apartment when he went to walk the dog. This should be quick and easy. Just a doorknob. Yeah, right. I've said before that there are certain types of pins you can put in a lock to make it really hard to pick. Most often these are spool pins. But there are others. The worst for me is a T pin. It works a lot like a spool pin, by kicking sideways and biding up unless picked exactly right. But T pins are about 1,000 times worse than a spool pin. I didn't know it, but found out, this doorknob had at least three of them in there. I spent a good twenty minutes throwing everything at this lock that I've got. Nothing worked. I was literally putting away my tools and getting ready to tell the guy I just couldn't do it without destroying the lock, when he tells me,
"Oh, we don't care if you have to drill it. We're planning on replacing it anyway." He thought for a second and said, "I guess I should have started with that."
I just spent twenty minutes trying to pick a lock that I could have drilled in two? I seriously want to hurt this guy. But I smile go back to the first floor and to the van. Grab the drill and not only had him in in about two minutes, but also managed to drill it so that even though the lock was now dead, the doorknob it's self still worked. He was pleased. He left a nice review. But why didn't you say something sooner?
feralferret
Veteran Member
Some days!
Thanks for the new post.
Thanks for the new post.
day late
money? whats that?
Well, I do admit this Halloween was a bit different. It was so slow that the boss closed us down at 6 P.M. Personally, I think that as the evening got later, we missed out on a lot of business. That was verified to me by my first call of the day, at around 8:30. I was told that the customer had to use someone else's phone to call us. That happens all the time. So, I get to the location and no sign of the customer. I tried to call them, or at least the number I was given that they called from. No answer, so I decide to walk up on the porch to take a peek at the lock. I was hoping they would see the van in front of the house and then come over from wherever they are. I got up on the porch and found the customer. Still in last night's costume and sleeping rather soundly in the hammock on the front porch. I her woke up, and the house was Victorian, and the locks were almost as old. I spent a good bit of time on the front door, with nothing but bad luck. Checked the windows, some weren't locked, but there was no way to get past the bars. I ended up at the back door and the young lady decided a little more nap time was called for, and she went back to the hammock. A few minutes later the back door lock turns, and I walk through the house to go to the front door intending to open it. FUN! They have double cylinder deadbolts. That means I now have to either pick the front door lock from the inside to let me out to wake her up or walk around to wake her up and let her enter the back. I walked around, mainly because she didn't budge when I shouted at her from the open window, five feet from her head. Must have been some kind of party, that's all I can say.
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day late
money? whats that?
Nope. After the back door was open and she didn't wake up with me calling to her, I went back out the back door. Walked around and woke her up. I didn't know where the key was and I am not going to do a search of some unknown persons home to find the key. They might not like that search. Never know what you might find. She went around back and we took care of the bill by passing my phone back and forth through an open, barred window.
One thing I haven't commented on happened here. It is a rental. The tenants are not responsible for the yard, and the landlord hasn't had the lawn mowed in about three or four months. Begger lice were all over my shoes and socks. It took 1/2 an hour to get them cleaned off.
day late
money? whats that?
Well, they do say that if you enjoy what you do, you never work a day in your life. It's true. I've enjoyed many of the jobs and places where I've worked over the years. But, being a locksmith, I'm having the time of my life, at just the right time of my life.
day late
money? whats that?
Okay, let's try this again. I had the first paragraph written and all of a sudden it was gone. As I was saying,
These past few weeks have certainly gotten my attention. We went to meet our very first grandbaby. A girl, named Grace. As I predicted, it was two hours after our arrival before I could convince 'Grandmom' that I needed to meet her too. OF COURSE she is the most beautiful baby girl ever born!!! So says Grandpa, anyway. The next two weeks were spent as you might well imagine. My wife and I spent as much time as possible with her. It also happened that the kids were having their anniversary while we were there. Naturally we took the baby and sent them out for the evening. She's still not quite 2 months, so not much play time was involved. But lots of all the other things. Cuddling, feeding, burping, cleaning up after burping, you know. The usual. My first evening there, I was officially 'christened' by Grace, from both ends of her little body. After feeding she spit up on my shoulder and a little later had a bit of an 'overflow' problem with her diaper while she was on my lap.
Wouldn't trade a moment of it for the world.
But the good times just kept on rolling when I went back to work. I've spoken before about how things either change in the field, or the ladies on dispatch got it wrong. It has been a source of irritation for a while now. I had TWO of those kinds of jobs come up in two days, and it all worked out for me.
The first job, a store at the mall had a problem. They could lock the back door and remove the key, no problem. But if they unlock the door, the alarm goes off, and it doesn't matter if the key is in the lock or not. DO NOT ASK ME WHY. When the customer called, they said the key was stuck in the lock. What they meant was they were stuck leaving it in the lock so they could get out in an emergency. So, I was sent for entirely the wrong reason. This is an electrical problem. The lock works perfectly. Making a long story short, the customer wound up having it out with the manager on duty at the time, along with the boss. She simply wasn't going to pay close to $200 for me to come out and do nothing, while the lady on dispatch is trying to tell her to make an appointment for someone else to come out there and then have to pay again.
The way it worked out for me is that the customer was quite complimentary towards me. She said I did everything I could to get the thing to work. I don't know exactly what happened after that. I was told to leave. But I do know that there were a few phone calls between the customer, the manager on duty and the boss. I didn't have to mess with any of that for once. However, on the group chat later that day, the guy who did go out and fix it said that whoever installed it jury-rigged it from beginning to end and it was no wonder the thing failed. He also mentioned I did a perfect job on what little I could do and had reassembled the lock with no problems. I knew that, but it's nice to have someone else say that to the boss before he starts climbing on me for screwing something up.
The second job was the next day. And I must say that I found something that I had never seen before. The job was simple enough. Rekey two locks on an outside storage shed. I got the deadbolt done and put it back on the door, Per SOP I checked the lock. It didn't turn. I take it back off the door and check the key in the lock. It works fine. I put it back on the door. No go. I took it off again and looked at the actual bolt. I was so surprised, I took pictures and posted them on the group chat. The bolt in the door was MADE not to work. Why they made it that way, I don't have a clue. Nobody in the chat had ever seen something like it either. The only thing I can think of is that this prefab shed was a display model and so the lock didn't have to work. It was the last one the store had, they wanted to close it out and nobody ever thought to look at it when it was sold. Well, this is a selling opportunity for me. Pull that non-functional bolt out of the door and install a working one. I really wanted that bolt too. Just because I've never seen that before. But, no matter what I tried, it wasn't coming out of that door. After I had given up, finished the rest of the job and left, the boss calls and wants to know,
"You could have used a flat tip screwdriver on the back of the bolt and driven it out with a hammer."
Actually boss, if I had hit that screwdriver with any more force than I used, I would have broken the door. We don't want that.
These past few weeks have certainly gotten my attention. We went to meet our very first grandbaby. A girl, named Grace. As I predicted, it was two hours after our arrival before I could convince 'Grandmom' that I needed to meet her too. OF COURSE she is the most beautiful baby girl ever born!!! So says Grandpa, anyway. The next two weeks were spent as you might well imagine. My wife and I spent as much time as possible with her. It also happened that the kids were having their anniversary while we were there. Naturally we took the baby and sent them out for the evening. She's still not quite 2 months, so not much play time was involved. But lots of all the other things. Cuddling, feeding, burping, cleaning up after burping, you know. The usual. My first evening there, I was officially 'christened' by Grace, from both ends of her little body. After feeding she spit up on my shoulder and a little later had a bit of an 'overflow' problem with her diaper while she was on my lap.
Wouldn't trade a moment of it for the world.
But the good times just kept on rolling when I went back to work. I've spoken before about how things either change in the field, or the ladies on dispatch got it wrong. It has been a source of irritation for a while now. I had TWO of those kinds of jobs come up in two days, and it all worked out for me.
The first job, a store at the mall had a problem. They could lock the back door and remove the key, no problem. But if they unlock the door, the alarm goes off, and it doesn't matter if the key is in the lock or not. DO NOT ASK ME WHY. When the customer called, they said the key was stuck in the lock. What they meant was they were stuck leaving it in the lock so they could get out in an emergency. So, I was sent for entirely the wrong reason. This is an electrical problem. The lock works perfectly. Making a long story short, the customer wound up having it out with the manager on duty at the time, along with the boss. She simply wasn't going to pay close to $200 for me to come out and do nothing, while the lady on dispatch is trying to tell her to make an appointment for someone else to come out there and then have to pay again.
The way it worked out for me is that the customer was quite complimentary towards me. She said I did everything I could to get the thing to work. I don't know exactly what happened after that. I was told to leave. But I do know that there were a few phone calls between the customer, the manager on duty and the boss. I didn't have to mess with any of that for once. However, on the group chat later that day, the guy who did go out and fix it said that whoever installed it jury-rigged it from beginning to end and it was no wonder the thing failed. He also mentioned I did a perfect job on what little I could do and had reassembled the lock with no problems. I knew that, but it's nice to have someone else say that to the boss before he starts climbing on me for screwing something up.
The second job was the next day. And I must say that I found something that I had never seen before. The job was simple enough. Rekey two locks on an outside storage shed. I got the deadbolt done and put it back on the door, Per SOP I checked the lock. It didn't turn. I take it back off the door and check the key in the lock. It works fine. I put it back on the door. No go. I took it off again and looked at the actual bolt. I was so surprised, I took pictures and posted them on the group chat. The bolt in the door was MADE not to work. Why they made it that way, I don't have a clue. Nobody in the chat had ever seen something like it either. The only thing I can think of is that this prefab shed was a display model and so the lock didn't have to work. It was the last one the store had, they wanted to close it out and nobody ever thought to look at it when it was sold. Well, this is a selling opportunity for me. Pull that non-functional bolt out of the door and install a working one. I really wanted that bolt too. Just because I've never seen that before. But, no matter what I tried, it wasn't coming out of that door. After I had given up, finished the rest of the job and left, the boss calls and wants to know,
"You could have used a flat tip screwdriver on the back of the bolt and driven it out with a hammer."
Actually boss, if I had hit that screwdriver with any more force than I used, I would have broken the door. We don't want that.
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feralferret
Veteran Member
Congratulations on the time with the new grandbaby!
Don't you just love trying to fix someone else's case of stupid?
Don't you just love trying to fix someone else's case of stupid?
RememberGoliad
Veteran Member
I sure hope FF was responding to two, not one, of the topics DL covered in his update!
feralferret
Veteran Member
Yes, two topics, not one. Although these days I can understand how that might be confusing. Some people don't seem to understand what causes babies.I sure hope FF was responding to two, not one, of the topics DL covered in his update!
day late
money? whats that?
I'm sorry to say, but it seems the older I get the worse people get. However, it has once again worked out in my favor. Twice in one day.
I think it was my second call this morning. Simple job. A guy locked his keys in the trunk of his Corolla. These are easy because I just reach in, grab the handle to open the trunk and give it a pull. The guy told me over the phone, before I even left to go to him, that he had been at it for a couple of hours. He even said that he had bent the trunk lid a little to try to reach the latch. No go. When I got there, there was obvious damage to the car. To return it to original shape is going to be in the thousands. Low rent neighborhood, so unlikely to happen. I didn't even open the car. I just opened the trunk. As the guy is paying for it I hear him say,
"Well, there goes my lift kit. I can't afford that and paying $70 to get my car open."
Okay, I'm not young anymore and I don't get everything people do these days. But I mean, who puts a lift kit on a Corolla? He paid, I left. 1/2 hour or so later, I start getting calls from the manager AND the boss. The customer's wife is saying that I did all this damage, and they should AT LEAST get their money back. Of course, I didn't do it. I mean how do you put several 1/2-inch-deep dents right at the corner of the car door, where the roof and door meet, right above the driver's window using an inflatable rubber bag? You can't do it. They say it must have been my 1/4 inch round aluminum rod that put those squarish/claw hammer looking dents in the steel roof. Those evil air bags also ruined the weather stripping around the window by ripping it like a sharp object of some kind and it even scrapped the paint off of the inside of the door, just above the window.
That didn't smell right to the boss. I mentioned about the guy saying he had already damaged the trunk. And that's when I learned something new. When I call with my ETA, I just hit the phone number in the dispatch. I don't write the number down and then punch it in. It turns out that when I do that, the call is recorded. We've got him admitting he damaged the car, and the boss went out and took pictures of the car. But then, to top it off, the lady left a really bad review on-line. The boss's wife answered her, on-line and politely. She came back later, changed her review with an "UPDATE" where she said very unpleasant things about the boss's wife and the company in general. Strangely enough she said the smith that came out to open the car (me) was, "very helpful, but management was rude and disrespectful." I just wonder how she can say the guy who supposedly did all this damage was 'helpful'?
The second time that the strange happened to me and I actually wasn't blamed for losing money happened when I was sent to open a Chevy. I open it and the guy wants to know how long it's going to take to make the new key. I don't do car keys. Here we go with another round of phone tag. Dispatch wants him to pay for me unlocking the car, and then pay again to have the other gut come out, get into the car again, (Why he would have to get in again I don't know. That's just the way billing is structured.) and then make the new key for him. He doesn't want to pay for the same thing twice and I'm on his side. Long story short, while the car would have to be opened to make the new key, it wasn't his fault that dispatch got the job wrong and sent the wrong guy. The recording was listened to and the lady did get it wrong. The price was adjusted to something a little more in line with what the price would be if the right guy was sent the first time. Once again, things happen and for once, I don't end up being the fall guy.
I could get used to this.
I think it was my second call this morning. Simple job. A guy locked his keys in the trunk of his Corolla. These are easy because I just reach in, grab the handle to open the trunk and give it a pull. The guy told me over the phone, before I even left to go to him, that he had been at it for a couple of hours. He even said that he had bent the trunk lid a little to try to reach the latch. No go. When I got there, there was obvious damage to the car. To return it to original shape is going to be in the thousands. Low rent neighborhood, so unlikely to happen. I didn't even open the car. I just opened the trunk. As the guy is paying for it I hear him say,
"Well, there goes my lift kit. I can't afford that and paying $70 to get my car open."
Okay, I'm not young anymore and I don't get everything people do these days. But I mean, who puts a lift kit on a Corolla? He paid, I left. 1/2 hour or so later, I start getting calls from the manager AND the boss. The customer's wife is saying that I did all this damage, and they should AT LEAST get their money back. Of course, I didn't do it. I mean how do you put several 1/2-inch-deep dents right at the corner of the car door, where the roof and door meet, right above the driver's window using an inflatable rubber bag? You can't do it. They say it must have been my 1/4 inch round aluminum rod that put those squarish/claw hammer looking dents in the steel roof. Those evil air bags also ruined the weather stripping around the window by ripping it like a sharp object of some kind and it even scrapped the paint off of the inside of the door, just above the window.
That didn't smell right to the boss. I mentioned about the guy saying he had already damaged the trunk. And that's when I learned something new. When I call with my ETA, I just hit the phone number in the dispatch. I don't write the number down and then punch it in. It turns out that when I do that, the call is recorded. We've got him admitting he damaged the car, and the boss went out and took pictures of the car. But then, to top it off, the lady left a really bad review on-line. The boss's wife answered her, on-line and politely. She came back later, changed her review with an "UPDATE" where she said very unpleasant things about the boss's wife and the company in general. Strangely enough she said the smith that came out to open the car (me) was, "very helpful, but management was rude and disrespectful." I just wonder how she can say the guy who supposedly did all this damage was 'helpful'?
The second time that the strange happened to me and I actually wasn't blamed for losing money happened when I was sent to open a Chevy. I open it and the guy wants to know how long it's going to take to make the new key. I don't do car keys. Here we go with another round of phone tag. Dispatch wants him to pay for me unlocking the car, and then pay again to have the other gut come out, get into the car again, (Why he would have to get in again I don't know. That's just the way billing is structured.) and then make the new key for him. He doesn't want to pay for the same thing twice and I'm on his side. Long story short, while the car would have to be opened to make the new key, it wasn't his fault that dispatch got the job wrong and sent the wrong guy. The recording was listened to and the lady did get it wrong. The price was adjusted to something a little more in line with what the price would be if the right guy was sent the first time. Once again, things happen and for once, I don't end up being the fall guy.
I could get used to this.
feralferret
Veteran Member
Better lucky than good any day.
Thank you for the entertaining tales, day late.
Thank you for the entertaining tales, day late.
Recorded Instant Replay... priceless!
Summerthyme (has anyone considered a policy where you snap a couple pictures of "preexisting " damage with your cell phone, before you start to work?)
Summerthyme (has anyone considered a policy where you snap a couple pictures of "preexisting " damage with your cell phone, before you start to work?)
day late
money? whats that?
Up until this time, it's never been necessary. But the choice was made that going forward, before and after pictures would be a good idea.
day late
money? whats that?
It's funny how things can fly from one extreme to the other in this business. And not in ways you might think. Last year a national restaurant chain closed a branch here in Gainesville. Recently someone bought it and are getting ready to open another one. Naturally they want the only keys to the place. They sent one of the newer guys over to do the job. And he did get it done. All the locks worked perfectly, in his hand. There were two that it wasn't clear to him what was going on with them. They were smooth as silk in his hand but put them back in the push-bar door and the key gets really stiff. As I understand it, he had one of them on and off the door a couple of times before they sent me to see what was going on. I got there, he explained what was going on and left me with the key and one of the troublesome locks. I took the inside cover off, looked at the latch and could see a lot of dirt and rust. I squirted WD-40 into the latch and worked the key several times. Problem solved. I put the cover back on and went to see him at the other door. He told me the problem was the same here as there. I repeated the process with him watching, and then had him work the key, so he could feel it loosen up. He looked like I'd slapped him in the face with a wet fish. But very appreciative.
Today there were 2/3 jobs of note, depending on how you look at it. I was called to an apartment building to get these guys into their apartment. I admit, I went about it the wrong way, but I did get them in. Just in time for the Florida/Florida State game. The fun part came when it was time to pay. The kid has all the credit card info on his phone. His phone is dead. Now he has to borrow someone else's phone, call Mom and get her to pay. One other thing was that I'm surrounded by so much metal, the app doesn't work. Call dispatch. Next thing you know, I'm sitting in the van waiting for dispatch to hear from Mom. 10 or 15 minutes later the call comes. Mom paid you can leave. Great!
I left there and hadn't gotten more than half a mile from the place when I have to turn around and go back. The first job was on the first floor. This one is on the sixth. The thing about this building is everything is carded. Even the elevators. These guys have to get someone inside to let us in and call the elevator for us. Same lock as before. An electronic door handle. On the first job, I could see the latch and got it open that way. No such luck here. I worked on that thing for 20 minutes trying to open it. I was at the point of telling them that the only way to get them in was to destroy the handle. NOBODY (including me) is happy with that. Just before he tries to call Mom for approval it hit me. DUMMY!!! This is a lever handle. Use the under-the-door tool. Just reach inside and pull the handle down. WHY didn't I think about this earlier? So, I got them in and didn't have to drill anything.
Without a doubt, today's wildest swing was one of my first jobs. The lady wants the house re-keyed. Four locks and she has the key they work on right now. This is good. Means minimum time spent for maximum profit. I was just putting the last lock together. I was working on the front doorstep. A man walked up and asked me what I was doing. I told nim the lady had called us to re-key the house. He looked at me and said,
"I'm the husband and I didn't give you my permission for this."
To make this short, He told me that he was going to call the cops. I said I'd wait for them. He walked away talking to 911 and I finished putting the locks on the doors. I mean the job is already done. No matter who gets the keys, I was all but finished when he got there. By the time I got back to the front door, two sheriff's deputies were talking with the couple. Separately, of course. Turns out the agreement to divorce has been made, but the paperwork has yet to be filed. He went out this morning to do something and she tried to have the house re-keyed before he got back. It seems he showed up early.
I really don't like these divorce jobs. Ya NEVER know what is going to happen.
Today there were 2/3 jobs of note, depending on how you look at it. I was called to an apartment building to get these guys into their apartment. I admit, I went about it the wrong way, but I did get them in. Just in time for the Florida/Florida State game. The fun part came when it was time to pay. The kid has all the credit card info on his phone. His phone is dead. Now he has to borrow someone else's phone, call Mom and get her to pay. One other thing was that I'm surrounded by so much metal, the app doesn't work. Call dispatch. Next thing you know, I'm sitting in the van waiting for dispatch to hear from Mom. 10 or 15 minutes later the call comes. Mom paid you can leave. Great!
I left there and hadn't gotten more than half a mile from the place when I have to turn around and go back. The first job was on the first floor. This one is on the sixth. The thing about this building is everything is carded. Even the elevators. These guys have to get someone inside to let us in and call the elevator for us. Same lock as before. An electronic door handle. On the first job, I could see the latch and got it open that way. No such luck here. I worked on that thing for 20 minutes trying to open it. I was at the point of telling them that the only way to get them in was to destroy the handle. NOBODY (including me) is happy with that. Just before he tries to call Mom for approval it hit me. DUMMY!!! This is a lever handle. Use the under-the-door tool. Just reach inside and pull the handle down. WHY didn't I think about this earlier? So, I got them in and didn't have to drill anything.
Without a doubt, today's wildest swing was one of my first jobs. The lady wants the house re-keyed. Four locks and she has the key they work on right now. This is good. Means minimum time spent for maximum profit. I was just putting the last lock together. I was working on the front doorstep. A man walked up and asked me what I was doing. I told nim the lady had called us to re-key the house. He looked at me and said,
"I'm the husband and I didn't give you my permission for this."
To make this short, He told me that he was going to call the cops. I said I'd wait for them. He walked away talking to 911 and I finished putting the locks on the doors. I mean the job is already done. No matter who gets the keys, I was all but finished when he got there. By the time I got back to the front door, two sheriff's deputies were talking with the couple. Separately, of course. Turns out the agreement to divorce has been made, but the paperwork has yet to be filed. He went out this morning to do something and she tried to have the house re-keyed before he got back. It seems he showed up early.
I really don't like these divorce jobs. Ya NEVER know what is going to happen.
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day late
money? whats that?
Ok, I'm just going to throw this one out there. I'm off today, but still get the group text. Late this afternoon went out a call to all the locksmiths................Wait for it,
Wait for it,
Does anyone have experience with unlocking a chastity belt?
This is not a drill.
Tons of strange going on here. Glad I'm off today.
Wait for it,
Does anyone have experience with unlocking a chastity belt?
This is not a drill.
Tons of strange going on here. Glad I'm off today.
Siskiyoumom
Veteran Member
Very, very carefully! And covering up the person as much as possible wearing it. A quick Google shows some very barbaric CB for sale. The most expensive one was bejeweled and very costly.
Back to the dirty locks. Go to a store that sells sewing supplies. They sell small cans of compress air and sewing machine cleaning kits with small brushes. If you don't have a dental pick, pick up one of their smallest crochet hooks.
Be careful in sensitive areas, the air coming out of the can will be cold.
You might get questions when turning in an expense request for a used chastity belt for training purposes.
Be careful in sensitive areas, the air coming out of the can will be cold.
You might get questions when turning in an expense request for a used chastity belt for training purposes.
kyrsyan
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Actually if you go over to the supplies for the Cricut and other machines, or the knitting looms, you will find hooks that look a lot like dental picks but a hair sturdier.
day late
money? whats that?
It's been really quiet for the past few days. Not a lot going on at all. BUT there was one interesting job, which also happened to be the last one. Of course, it's about 7:30 when I get the job. We close at 8. The job is in Hawthorne. 35-minute drive, one way. AND I'm told they aren't sure I can do anything anyway. (Then why am I going?) It seems the lady is leaving town for a while and can't get the door of her self-storage unit down. She believes it has something to do with the lock.
Strange. But I've heard stranger. So, after a leisurely drive out of town just at dusk, I arrive in the dark. I meet the lady and get most of the story. She had loaded up and was trying to close the door, when it got stuck. The unit is packed like sardines, but nothing is touching the door. I know now that, the sliding bar that holds the door closed and you put the lock on, had slipped over a little and jammed the door. All you need do is take pressure off and slide it out of the way. She and the lady with her didn't think of that. Some stranger comes by and offers to help. I wasn't told everything, I was told that at some point the guy used a tire iron trying to get the door to close. In short, by the time I got there he was long gone, and the sliding bar was almost shaped like a fishhook and still jammed in the track. There is no way to force that mangled bar back. The only thing I can do is remove it from the inside. Good thing the door is still part way open.
Just one problem. There is so much stuff packed in this unit that I had tubs pressing against my back, while the door pressed against my front. Because of the weight and how tightly they were packed, I couldn't slide them out to make room to work. I had to reach over-head to take off the nuts that held the lock in place. NOW, in the dark, I have to beat that stupid bar back into a usable shape and put the thing back on the unit. I got it done. But I was supposed to pick up the other guy and give him the van at the time I arrived at this job. By the time I got to him it was 8:45. I got home late and have been thinking about it ever since. At our last company meeting we were told that dispatch was going to stop taking these kinds of calls after 7:30, so nobody would be way out of town, working at quitting time. (Also, even though it wasn't mentioned, that means less over-time. Since they didn't say anything about that I decided not to as well.) At any rate, somebody has a little explaining to do at the next meeting.
Strange. But I've heard stranger. So, after a leisurely drive out of town just at dusk, I arrive in the dark. I meet the lady and get most of the story. She had loaded up and was trying to close the door, when it got stuck. The unit is packed like sardines, but nothing is touching the door. I know now that, the sliding bar that holds the door closed and you put the lock on, had slipped over a little and jammed the door. All you need do is take pressure off and slide it out of the way. She and the lady with her didn't think of that. Some stranger comes by and offers to help. I wasn't told everything, I was told that at some point the guy used a tire iron trying to get the door to close. In short, by the time I got there he was long gone, and the sliding bar was almost shaped like a fishhook and still jammed in the track. There is no way to force that mangled bar back. The only thing I can do is remove it from the inside. Good thing the door is still part way open.
Just one problem. There is so much stuff packed in this unit that I had tubs pressing against my back, while the door pressed against my front. Because of the weight and how tightly they were packed, I couldn't slide them out to make room to work. I had to reach over-head to take off the nuts that held the lock in place. NOW, in the dark, I have to beat that stupid bar back into a usable shape and put the thing back on the unit. I got it done. But I was supposed to pick up the other guy and give him the van at the time I arrived at this job. By the time I got to him it was 8:45. I got home late and have been thinking about it ever since. At our last company meeting we were told that dispatch was going to stop taking these kinds of calls after 7:30, so nobody would be way out of town, working at quitting time. (Also, even though it wasn't mentioned, that means less over-time. Since they didn't say anything about that I decided not to as well.) At any rate, somebody has a little explaining to do at the next meeting.
day late
money? whats that?
Yesterday was the usual insanity. Nothing too hard, but most of my time was spent on the road. I didn't even get a call until around 10 A.M. IT was twenty minutes out of town. Nothing too hard. Just open a car. So, I get home close to 11. I'm here long enough for my wife to start on the 'honey-do' list for my next day off, when I get a call for halfway across town. I run into this with surprising frequency. The guy is working on his car with his brother. They need to run to the parts store. They close the car up, but the brother locks the door. The customer asks why he did that.
"It doesn't matter. You have the fob."
"The car battery is dead. It won't work."
"But don't you know there is a key in the fob?" brother says with a sneer.
"That key only opens the glove compartment."
It seems a lot of cars these days when they are sold, have been either recovered, or repaired. For whatever reason, since they have the fob and it's 'push to start' ignition, the car dealers don't care if there is a key for the door. On top of that, the fob is in the trunk anyway. I run out there and get him in. I turn around to head back to the house. I made it 3/4 of the way when the guy calls me back.
"I don't know how it happened again, but the keys are locked inside again."
I go back and get him in again. Before I can get to the house, I'm running out of town again. Ford pickup at the gas pump. Twenty minutes away. I arrive, no pickup. THERE IS a van from our chief competitor in the parking lot. I call to ask.
"That was my son. He said a tow truck just came by and got him in."
I think I know which 'tow truck' came by as well. Now, I have no time to waste. I have to drive back to town and check on a job the other guy did the day before. They said something wasn't right. And that was true. But it was the kind of things (yes plural) that could happen to anyone. Quite often, especially when putting a deadbolt on a solid wood door, you can over-tighten the screws that hold it on the door. Back off the screws by a quarter turn and everything works fine. The other thing is something this guy and I have been bugging the boss about for some time now. That key cutting machine we use is quite finicky. It falls out of alignment at a harsh glance. A couple of the keys he cut were off by just a tiny bit. They work, but you have to jiggle them a bit.
Just for good measure, the last job of the day. Opening a car, 45 minutes away. I swear I spent most of the day behind the wheel.
"It doesn't matter. You have the fob."
"The car battery is dead. It won't work."
"But don't you know there is a key in the fob?" brother says with a sneer.
"That key only opens the glove compartment."
It seems a lot of cars these days when they are sold, have been either recovered, or repaired. For whatever reason, since they have the fob and it's 'push to start' ignition, the car dealers don't care if there is a key for the door. On top of that, the fob is in the trunk anyway. I run out there and get him in. I turn around to head back to the house. I made it 3/4 of the way when the guy calls me back.
"I don't know how it happened again, but the keys are locked inside again."
I go back and get him in again. Before I can get to the house, I'm running out of town again. Ford pickup at the gas pump. Twenty minutes away. I arrive, no pickup. THERE IS a van from our chief competitor in the parking lot. I call to ask.
"That was my son. He said a tow truck just came by and got him in."
I think I know which 'tow truck' came by as well. Now, I have no time to waste. I have to drive back to town and check on a job the other guy did the day before. They said something wasn't right. And that was true. But it was the kind of things (yes plural) that could happen to anyone. Quite often, especially when putting a deadbolt on a solid wood door, you can over-tighten the screws that hold it on the door. Back off the screws by a quarter turn and everything works fine. The other thing is something this guy and I have been bugging the boss about for some time now. That key cutting machine we use is quite finicky. It falls out of alignment at a harsh glance. A couple of the keys he cut were off by just a tiny bit. They work, but you have to jiggle them a bit.
Just for good measure, the last job of the day. Opening a car, 45 minutes away. I swear I spent most of the day behind the wheel.
day late
money? whats that?
It has been a bit slow lately. But I found out why. I have been basically relegated to the role of 'overflow'. That's fine. I get paid to sit home and drive my wife nuts because I can't really do anything, I might get a call. One day was of interest though. I only had three calls that day. Twice I was sent out to lend a hand to the younger locksmiths. The only real job I did was opening a car. However sometimes the customers are there, and even more rarely they like to 'have a little fun' while you are working. Let me explain,
I've seen this kind of thing before, but very rarely. A number of years ago certain manufacturers decided that once their lock went on the door, there would never be a reason to change anything. Like re-keying. So, since you can't take the lock out, that means replacing the entire knob. Normally that's just take out a few screws, remove and replace the knob and bill the customer. I've never seen a doorknob like this. I know about double sided deadbolts, but double sided doorknobs? On top of that this type of doorknob was a 'install and never replace' type. Meaning there was absolutely no way to remove the knob. I told the customer that the only way this knob is coming off is if I can twist it off with a set of large channel lock pliers I have, and if that fails I'll have to resort to the angle grinder and cut the thing off. It was just getting dark. This job was new customers moving into an old building. They don't care what we do to the locks. This was when the customer decided to have a little fun.
"Can we skip straight to cutting it off?"
Just getting dark, an angle grinder doing 1,700 RPM's on a metal doorknob. I made a respectable spark show for the customer. We had fun.
I've seen this kind of thing before, but very rarely. A number of years ago certain manufacturers decided that once their lock went on the door, there would never be a reason to change anything. Like re-keying. So, since you can't take the lock out, that means replacing the entire knob. Normally that's just take out a few screws, remove and replace the knob and bill the customer. I've never seen a doorknob like this. I know about double sided deadbolts, but double sided doorknobs? On top of that this type of doorknob was a 'install and never replace' type. Meaning there was absolutely no way to remove the knob. I told the customer that the only way this knob is coming off is if I can twist it off with a set of large channel lock pliers I have, and if that fails I'll have to resort to the angle grinder and cut the thing off. It was just getting dark. This job was new customers moving into an old building. They don't care what we do to the locks. This was when the customer decided to have a little fun.
"Can we skip straight to cutting it off?"
Just getting dark, an angle grinder doing 1,700 RPM's on a metal doorknob. I made a respectable spark show for the customer. We had fun.
day late
money? whats that?
Okay. New Years, you expect people are not going to be at their best. They are celebrating, mistakes happen, our services are needed. That is a given. BUT from time to time, you see how some people either should not drink, or be a little more observant after the fact. Two cases in point. Both on 01/01/24. The first was just the standard case of Mom and Dad going out on New Years Eve and partying a bit too much. Mom and Dad locked the keys in the SUV, but they were staying with the son overnight, so no real problem there. Just run over pop the door lock and get paid. Everyday bread and butter. No biggie. The second job was a tiny bit different.
I had to drive 30 minutes out of town to a place called Reddick. The gentleman is locked out of his pickup. Despite any impression I may have given, I'm not a very physically imposing man. I stand 5'8" and weigh about 150#. Some folks at work call me skinny. The point being that when I get a call for any kind of truck, I know I'm going to need the three-step ladder I carry in the van, so I can get up high enough to see the locks inside the truck. Especially if it is one of those elevated trucks. I got to the job. I grabbed my tools and ladder. I walked to the drivers' door to go to work. The first thing I do is look at the passenger door, from the driver's side to see where the locks are located and what type they are so I can get the vehicle open. Different locks means different tools. I set up the ladder, looked through the window and notice something just a bit different. The button on the passenger door that is used to lock it, is down in the locked position. The button on the drivers' door is up. The door is unlocked. I pointed that out to the customer. He asked what I meant. I reached out, grabbed the outside handle, pulled it and opened the door. I looked at him and asked,
"Why am I here?"
In the following brief conversation, it was determined that this little oversight wasn't going to be mentioned to the gentleman's wife. The truck was from New York. They were in an RV campsite. The truck had been parked with the drivers' door facing the RV next door. When they got back to the RV after New Years celebrating, they checked the passenger door, it was locked. Neither one of them thought about checking the driver's door. SOMETIMES you just have to admit it. There are a lot of people out there that are absolutely clueless.
I had to drive 30 minutes out of town to a place called Reddick. The gentleman is locked out of his pickup. Despite any impression I may have given, I'm not a very physically imposing man. I stand 5'8" and weigh about 150#. Some folks at work call me skinny. The point being that when I get a call for any kind of truck, I know I'm going to need the three-step ladder I carry in the van, so I can get up high enough to see the locks inside the truck. Especially if it is one of those elevated trucks. I got to the job. I grabbed my tools and ladder. I walked to the drivers' door to go to work. The first thing I do is look at the passenger door, from the driver's side to see where the locks are located and what type they are so I can get the vehicle open. Different locks means different tools. I set up the ladder, looked through the window and notice something just a bit different. The button on the passenger door that is used to lock it, is down in the locked position. The button on the drivers' door is up. The door is unlocked. I pointed that out to the customer. He asked what I meant. I reached out, grabbed the outside handle, pulled it and opened the door. I looked at him and asked,
"Why am I here?"
In the following brief conversation, it was determined that this little oversight wasn't going to be mentioned to the gentleman's wife. The truck was from New York. They were in an RV campsite. The truck had been parked with the drivers' door facing the RV next door. When they got back to the RV after New Years celebrating, they checked the passenger door, it was locked. Neither one of them thought about checking the driver's door. SOMETIMES you just have to admit it. There are a lot of people out there that are absolutely clueless.
kyrsyan
Has No Life - Lives on TB
The last time I had to call a locksmith, I was at work and had locked the keys in the van with son. At 2 am in the morning. Called locksmith and went back inside to keep working on papers. Son was sound asleep, deep asleep, and was not responding to any of us trying to wake him. (I wish he still slept that deeply.) I left the monitor going and worked while waiting.
Locksmith was absolutely peeved that we did not get son to open the door. Several people explained the facts of life to him, including that even if son was awake, he didn't know how to unlock the doors. (Yeah for profound autism.) Anyways, he grumbled the whole way through. Until he finally got the door open, and son was still out. And son only started to vaguely wake up when I opened the side slider door and started loading the papers. And only then to wrap up more thoroughly in his blankets because it was cold outside. After that, I gave my boss a spare key for my van that was chucked in his desk drawer. Just in case.
Locksmith was absolutely peeved that we did not get son to open the door. Several people explained the facts of life to him, including that even if son was awake, he didn't know how to unlock the doors. (Yeah for profound autism.) Anyways, he grumbled the whole way through. Until he finally got the door open, and son was still out. And son only started to vaguely wake up when I opened the side slider door and started loading the papers. And only then to wrap up more thoroughly in his blankets because it was cold outside. After that, I gave my boss a spare key for my van that was chucked in his desk drawer. Just in case.
day late
money? whats that?
There's less to tell these days. My hours have been cut, but it was done with mutual consent. One of the other guys needs more hours to make the money to pay off a debt. I'm on SS, so I can afford the cut. Also, he is a friend, so I'm glad I can help him out.
I've talked about evictions before. They happen from time to time, and it usually follows a pattern. The officer approaches the home, knocks and announces himself, loudly. After a few attempts to get an answer, I'm called in and open the door. The officer then enters, weapon drawn, and again announces himself, loudly, just before entering each room. Once the home is clear, I go to work and change all the locks.
Normally, these jobs are in the low rent, bars on the windows, kind of neighborhoods. Some places you can get high just by sitting there and working for a little while. Usually, IF the yard has been mowed, it was weeks or months ago. OR, there really isn't a yard, just an open space with knee high weeds everywhere. OR, there are knee high weeds growing up between piles of junk and discarded trash. OR, the amount of junk is such that nothing can grow. Once I open the place and go to work, of course I have to enter the home. Normally they have been pretty much trashed. Dirt is everywhere. The flooring quite often has to be repaired or replaced. (It's amazing what fire from an exploding crack pipe will do to a vinal floor.) Holes in the walls from causes unknown and I don't really want to know what they are from. Food left in the fridge and the power was turned off three weeks ago. The list goes on. Not fun.
First of all, this job was 50 minutes out of town. I wasn't told about it being an eviction until I got there. The Deputy who was waiting told me. We wait another five minutes for the property owner to get there before beginning. I'm here to tell you, the only people anywhere nearby that didn't hear the officer announce himself have to have been dead for about a week. That guy was LOUD! When I finally start to work, I'm amazed. This is unlike any eviction I've ever worked. The home was in a nice middle-income neighborhood. The house was clean and well kept, the yard also well kept. A T.V. was left on in a back room. I could hear it while I worked. There was a Christmas tree in one corner with the lights still on. Kids toys were scattered around the clean living room. Shoes were lined up near the front door. Clothes in the laundry hamper next to the washer, near the back door. I swear, if I didn't know better, I would think the family had stepped out to go to church or something and left the T.V. on by accident.
I have no idea what happened or why, but it is truly odd that an entire family would just pick up and leave, while taking ABSOLUTELY NOTHING with them. It was as if your average tax paying law-abiding nuclear family had suddenly left with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. No explanation given.
Some jobs, you just have to shake your head and wonder.
I've talked about evictions before. They happen from time to time, and it usually follows a pattern. The officer approaches the home, knocks and announces himself, loudly. After a few attempts to get an answer, I'm called in and open the door. The officer then enters, weapon drawn, and again announces himself, loudly, just before entering each room. Once the home is clear, I go to work and change all the locks.
Normally, these jobs are in the low rent, bars on the windows, kind of neighborhoods. Some places you can get high just by sitting there and working for a little while. Usually, IF the yard has been mowed, it was weeks or months ago. OR, there really isn't a yard, just an open space with knee high weeds everywhere. OR, there are knee high weeds growing up between piles of junk and discarded trash. OR, the amount of junk is such that nothing can grow. Once I open the place and go to work, of course I have to enter the home. Normally they have been pretty much trashed. Dirt is everywhere. The flooring quite often has to be repaired or replaced. (It's amazing what fire from an exploding crack pipe will do to a vinal floor.) Holes in the walls from causes unknown and I don't really want to know what they are from. Food left in the fridge and the power was turned off three weeks ago. The list goes on. Not fun.
First of all, this job was 50 minutes out of town. I wasn't told about it being an eviction until I got there. The Deputy who was waiting told me. We wait another five minutes for the property owner to get there before beginning. I'm here to tell you, the only people anywhere nearby that didn't hear the officer announce himself have to have been dead for about a week. That guy was LOUD! When I finally start to work, I'm amazed. This is unlike any eviction I've ever worked. The home was in a nice middle-income neighborhood. The house was clean and well kept, the yard also well kept. A T.V. was left on in a back room. I could hear it while I worked. There was a Christmas tree in one corner with the lights still on. Kids toys were scattered around the clean living room. Shoes were lined up near the front door. Clothes in the laundry hamper next to the washer, near the back door. I swear, if I didn't know better, I would think the family had stepped out to go to church or something and left the T.V. on by accident.
I have no idea what happened or why, but it is truly odd that an entire family would just pick up and leave, while taking ABSOLUTELY NOTHING with them. It was as if your average tax paying law-abiding nuclear family had suddenly left with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. No explanation given.
Some jobs, you just have to shake your head and wonder.
feralferret
Veteran Member
Day late, that is really weird. At least there was no confrontation.
larry_minn
Contributing Member
the family might have spoken the truth about the government?