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Saturday, May 13, 2017

Ants all over me! & Locksmith Call

The Terro did not work, a first for me. The Commercial ant baits did not work. They are ignored. Now, for the peanut butter and boric acid--Twenty-mule Borax and peanut butter. I don't know how much longer I can stand it before I break down and spray down the car with ant spray!

Because of the fact I have seen an occasional ant here and there, I am quite sure they have built a home in the car.

They are NOT looking for water. Even though we are in a drought, it has rained every few days.

Wednesday, I parked in a business area for a few seconds to walk ten feet, no more than two minutes out of the car at 7 pm. When I returned to the car, my door was locked. I did not lock the car AND the keys were in the ignition. Okay, maybe I hit the inconvenient little tab for the lock. But, there was no warning signal the keys were in the ignition. Plus, the door will not usually lock with the keys in the ignition.

Since it was getting dark, I immediately called my locksmith. Yes, I have a locksmith. It was going to take him about 30 minutes to get to me.  And, I have no place to sit. I had to cross the rather broad street and step up two steps to get to the sidewalk, walk about two stores down to sit outside closed businesses.

When the guy unlocked the door, we both heard the gratifying "click" as the door lock opened. He pulled out the things holding the door apart at the top. He made a gasp and noise and said something. He had to put the things back in the door. Three more times he unlocked the door. He said he had never had this happen before.

Lucky me! I have a unique experience.

When I called exbf as I sat on the bench, he had one word--DAMN! He rarely says anything so strong or so strongly. When the locksmith finished and I was finally sitting in the car, he said he would take exbf's credit card info on the phone. Whew. And, exbf agreed to it. Whew! So, I now owe exbf $60.

The locksmith said there was something wrong since the car actually locked with the keys in the ignition.

The locksmiths have had a little wedge they force into the door so as not to damage the door seal. This guy had two flat plastic things that were bladders. He just pumped them up to force the door open enough for him to put his tool into the car.

Before the last few times, locksmiths used a flat tool to get into the body of the door to unlock the mechanism inside the door. No more.

I keep asking this locksmith company to give me a discount since I am a frequent-flyer, so to speak. Maybe I have them convinced. I am hopeful as it sounds as though something like that is in the works.

Your turn
If the peanut butter and borax mixture does not work, does anyone have another solution other than setting the car on fire or drowning the ants in a lake?  Does anyone have a clue as to why the door kept locking itself after the locksmith unlocked it? Why would my car suddenly lock with the keys in the ignition? Got any locksmith relatives?

7 comments:

  1. Linda, I have to tell you reading your posts about the ants makes my skin crawl! I cant imagine what you are going through. A city policeman broke my door lock using a slim jim. After that, they would not do it anymore. You had to pay someone. We have a truck with a faulty electrical system. It locked us out on a bitter cold day with our dog inside. Someone nearby told us thme police would only do the lock with a child or dog inside so we were saved. You have a locksmith on speed dial?

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    Replies
    1. carol,
      You better believe I had the locksmith number in my phone. In 15 seconds, I can be talking to one. Around here, the locksmiths complained the police were taking away their livelihood. So, the police were actually forced by their rules to not assist. However, I locked myself out of the car in Vestavia Hills, the most toney place in Birmingham. The police were there is two minutes and had the car open two minutes later!

      I keep thinking an ant is one me. Half the time it is an ant and the other half it is a stray hair fallen on me.

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  2. what a day you are having!
    Alas, I have no advice for you.

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  3. We had problems with ants several years ago in the house. Try sprinking Mexana medicated foot powder around as they hate it. They hate the ingredients (eucalyptus, etc.)

    Diatomaceous earth will kill them, but you have to be very careful when putting is down not to breathe it in because it isn't good for the lungs. It is made of tiny, ancient microscopic animals which are very sharp and cut the bodies of insects. You may wish to research it on the internet.

    We did have some success with borax in our out buildings.

    You could put it on waxed paper on in a container mixed with powdered sugar to see if that works.

    Also, ants hate peppermint -- you can try putting dried peppermint around . . . harmless for you and it smells good. You can also mixed a few drops of peppermint essential oils and spray it around too.

    Good luck.

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  4. Janet,
    Thanks. I already have bronchitis, so I have to be careful. Actually, I always have to be careful because I have chronic bronchitis. I will try some of these in the car and keep the others in mind for other applications. Food powder, how funny. I need to go check out the car. I saw no ants when I looked in, but driving seems to bring them out. Maybe they don't like the motion?

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  5. Finding a trustworthy locksmith can be quite hard but I lucked out on mine, and I guess you did too. Really handy for those lock out panics. Oh, and just reading about the ants gives me uncomfortable shivers down my spine!

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Okay, hoping the annoyances have gone away.