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.
