Second Near-Disaster In Less than a Week!
Posted by: JonR on 06 September 2004
After my rather unfortunate encounter with an aggravated fellow bus-commuter last week, tonight I came home from work and as usual checked in my pocket for my keys and.....they weren't there!
What's more, a few weeks ago I'd had all new double-glazed windows and new front and back doors which quadruple-lock, and my two sets of spare keys were IN THE HOUSE!
As you can imagine I felt like a right twat - my lost keys included my car keys so needless to say I can't currently use my car.
How fortunate I have excellent neighbours! How fortunate also, that unusually I had left the small bathroom window open!
The sequence of events, beginning at about 8pm, is thus:-
Using my next door neighbour's ladder (which is quite short) I just able to reach inside and open the larger side window but, this being new double-glazing, the side window does not have a conventional 'hinge'. Instead it slides along a track as it opens so it leaves quite a slim gap to get through. Unfortunately the ladder is just TOO short, because I end up trying to get in torso first but then kept catching myself on the window lock.
What we needed was a bigger ladder. My other next door neighbour is a landscape gardener and he has a long ladder but...he wasn't in. Went to my neighbour two doors down and he doesn't have a ladder. He gave me the number of the local police station and I called them. The police said they don't recommend locksmiths and suggested I either call the fire brigade (hefty callout charge likely) or smash a window to get in and, in that event, pre-advise the control room in case someone saw me and thought I was trying to break in. The neighbour, who works in the building trade, then said that double-glazed windows are particularly difficult to smash because all the pressure applied to the outer window dissipates away from the inner one.
Went back to my next door neighbour who suggested I call a locksmith. Tried two 24-hr lines. The first one failed to answer (toilet-break?) and the second one said they could come out but it would cost £90. I said I would call them back.
So, what to do?
Went back to my next-door neighbour. Called my train operator's lost property line to report my missing keys, which I reckon must have fallen out of my jacket pocket as I was putting it on to get off the train at my station. It's now about 9.30pm and needless to say they're closed for the night, so I left a message.
My neighbour then suggests I try and call the gardener to see if we can borrow his ladder in his absence. His mobile is on voicemail so I leave a message. My neighbour makes a welcome cup of tea and I tuck into some nice lemon cake.
Then....
Result! The gardener has got my voicemail and calls me back. He agrees to the use of his ladder and says that in any case he'll be back within the hour so can assist if required. Gratefully we retrieve said ladder from atop his van (although not until we finished the tea and cakes - priorities, priorities!) but I still wasn't sure I'd have any more luck getting thru the bathroom window.
Luckily the far taller ladder proved the difference, as from the improved height I was able to climb through the bathroom window, this time leading with my right leg, and get in the house - phew!!!! The time is now 10pm.
Gratefully I retrieved my spare set of keys and gave the other set to my extremely helpful neighbours! The irony is, though, that I was planning to give them a spare set of keys weeks ago for just such an eventuality!
So, two hours of mayhem through nothing more than losing a set of keys.
I wonder what I'm going to have to go through next?
Has anyone else got similar experiences to relate, or am I the only utterly stupid person here (which would be no surprise
)
Regards,
JonR
What's more, a few weeks ago I'd had all new double-glazed windows and new front and back doors which quadruple-lock, and my two sets of spare keys were IN THE HOUSE!
As you can imagine I felt like a right twat - my lost keys included my car keys so needless to say I can't currently use my car.
How fortunate I have excellent neighbours! How fortunate also, that unusually I had left the small bathroom window open!
The sequence of events, beginning at about 8pm, is thus:-
Using my next door neighbour's ladder (which is quite short) I just able to reach inside and open the larger side window but, this being new double-glazing, the side window does not have a conventional 'hinge'. Instead it slides along a track as it opens so it leaves quite a slim gap to get through. Unfortunately the ladder is just TOO short, because I end up trying to get in torso first but then kept catching myself on the window lock.
What we needed was a bigger ladder. My other next door neighbour is a landscape gardener and he has a long ladder but...he wasn't in. Went to my neighbour two doors down and he doesn't have a ladder. He gave me the number of the local police station and I called them. The police said they don't recommend locksmiths and suggested I either call the fire brigade (hefty callout charge likely) or smash a window to get in and, in that event, pre-advise the control room in case someone saw me and thought I was trying to break in. The neighbour, who works in the building trade, then said that double-glazed windows are particularly difficult to smash because all the pressure applied to the outer window dissipates away from the inner one.
Went back to my next door neighbour who suggested I call a locksmith. Tried two 24-hr lines. The first one failed to answer (toilet-break?) and the second one said they could come out but it would cost £90. I said I would call them back.
So, what to do?
Went back to my next-door neighbour. Called my train operator's lost property line to report my missing keys, which I reckon must have fallen out of my jacket pocket as I was putting it on to get off the train at my station. It's now about 9.30pm and needless to say they're closed for the night, so I left a message.
My neighbour then suggests I try and call the gardener to see if we can borrow his ladder in his absence. His mobile is on voicemail so I leave a message. My neighbour makes a welcome cup of tea and I tuck into some nice lemon cake.
Then....
Result! The gardener has got my voicemail and calls me back. He agrees to the use of his ladder and says that in any case he'll be back within the hour so can assist if required. Gratefully we retrieve said ladder from atop his van (although not until we finished the tea and cakes - priorities, priorities!) but I still wasn't sure I'd have any more luck getting thru the bathroom window.
Luckily the far taller ladder proved the difference, as from the improved height I was able to climb through the bathroom window, this time leading with my right leg, and get in the house - phew!!!! The time is now 10pm.
Gratefully I retrieved my spare set of keys and gave the other set to my extremely helpful neighbours! The irony is, though, that I was planning to give them a spare set of keys weeks ago for just such an eventuality!
So, two hours of mayhem through nothing more than losing a set of keys.
I wonder what I'm going to have to go through next?
Has anyone else got similar experiences to relate, or am I the only utterly stupid person here (which would be no surprise
)Regards,
JonR