Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Locksmithery: One More Notch In the Ole Self Competency Belt

Never one to just throw in the towel (that and not wanting to pay a locksmith) I kept working on that damn lock.
No budging.

Then when Sir Hugs-A-Lot (property dispute guy) came over for a signature I thought I'd hit him up for the use of his manly strength.

That's when this happened:

Yep, he immediately broke the key.

Awesome. Well that settles it, I thought, I'm going to have to get a locksmith out here now.

Dreading it, all of it: the finding a locksmith, the dealing with a locksmith, the scheduling of the locksmith, and the paying for a locksmith. I though to myself: "I can't make it worse". So I decided to disassemble the lock and see if I could slide the locking mechanism out of the door.


Bingo! I could.

Well too bad I hadn't trusted in myself FIRST.
Because, now I still had a cylinder with a broken key.
I was kicking myself for asking that big brute for help. If I hadn't I'd have had everything fixed by now.

Thankfully the internet was here to help.
I lubed up the lock and tried to pick out the broken key.
(One more reason to hang onto your jack-o-lantern saws, ladies!)
So frustratingly close but no cigar.

I thought I'd have to get a locksmith out here after all.
I'm still thinking locksmiths must be out there for a reason. This must be complex... no?
But why can't I just replace the cylinder?
A quick google proved I can... and for only 5 bucks.
Done!

The whole dismantling allowed me to repaint the door (bonus?!). Cause it's not like I had anything else to do.

And Ta-Da.

I did it.

I have to say I was feeling pretty proud of myself. I approached this whole situation from a fairly intimidated standpoint. It would have been the easiest route to just call a locksmith and hand over the problem. I'm glad I didn't. Not just because of the massive amounts of money saved, but because it's a good example for my girls... and for myself.

P.S. Kid woke up puking today. Proving that, whether big or small, I seemingly face some kind of crisis every single day.

20 comments:

Kellie said...

I love it when I do something like that! Kudos to you for figuring it out!! Hope kid gets to feeling better soon:)

Brenda said...

(One more reason to hang onto your jack-o-lantern saws, ladies!) LOL!

That is amazing. I love feeling self-reliant and always (always!) assume I can do something better than someone else, but I think you have taken it to the next level. That is some bad-ass lock-smithing!

Kinder said...

Good for you for figuring it out! You may not be rich, but you are a genius! Sorry to hear about kid!

Noah said...

That is some impressive handylady work. I would have to say that my own first reaction to the stuck lock would, like Sir Hugs a Lot, be something akin to "Hulk SMAAASH!"

Sorry about Kid. Somebody...somewhere...doesn't want you to just take it easy.

Julie said...

That is some bad-ass lock-smithing! I am with Gigs on this. Total bad ass.

Damn on Kid and the barfing.

Deb said...

I love solving mechanical problems, because I feel so empowered! Rock on, Mrs. F. Awesome job. (So sorry about Kid.)

Kiki said...

I'm going to send every healthy thought I have to Kid so she is well in no time....she has to be!!!!

You are so awesome, I love that you tackled it yourself....and fixed it!!!!

Lindsay said...

Way to go! I love solving things. Way to fix it :)

Rebecca said...

I am so impressed. I wouldn't have even known where to start...except for looking up locksmiths on the internet. You have the right to be VERY proud of yourself.

Hope kid gets better soon.

Preppy Mama said...

Yet again I am amazed at your super human capabilities!! Me, I panic, you are amazing!!

Claire said...

Old Norwegian saying that I'm not even going to try to write out - but the loose translation is: "It is better to be dead than to be without a good idea" - this comes as close to being a family motto with us - thinking of adopting you!!!

justme said...

your determination is admirable, although slightly insane.

kid puking, seriously ?? wtf is going on....

Andrea said...

way to go, a true bad ass!

Mrs Furious said...

Thanks guys :)
I really was intimidated by it and I'm still riding high on conquering the lock!

Kid update: same old same old. Strange waking up puking, sick for a couple hours until her stomach is finally empty, better by mid morning. No other symptoms. No one else gets sick. I am now going to write them down on the calendar so I can track how frequently this is happening. Seems like once a month to me.



trifitmom,
Seriously... what is going on?!
Cannot wait to get back to MI and her old neuro.

wootini said...

whoo-hoo, way to go Mrs. F! Very Ma/Pa Ingalls-like resourcefulness!

Sarah said...

you amaze me. i would have been so pissed off by that lock that i would not have even been able to attempt to fix it.

Angie said...

You rock!

Mrs. Smitty said...

Does Kid get a headache with the puking too? When my sister was little she would get horrible headaches and sometimes puke what seemed like randomly, never lasted more than a day or few hours. When my mom started tracking it and talked to the doc it was almost once a month. It went away a few years later when her period started. Somehow the two were related. I don't remember how old she was exactly but it was elementary school.

Mrs Furious said...

Mrs Smitty,
It's hard to say. She doesn't complain of a head ache but of course she's busy puking. I think that it is likely to be abdominal migraines which might be what your sister had. We have a family history for that and it is also very closely related to epilepsy and it's possible her epilepsy drugs were helping control them and that's why it's been happening since she went off of them.

Unknown said...

It's been years now that you've got been working just like a donkey, multiple changes each day, tiring you to ultimately sleep every single day, the only real consolation being that you'll most likely manage enough to purchase your house soon. Morning in and day trip, you ultimately save sufficient enough to help you the proud who owns a bungalow along with a vehicle to boast about. But in the finish during the day, you finish up carrying out a mistake people frequently make that's, compromising on the standard of locks used or losing the only real group of secrets you'd.
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