Locked In! Locked Out! It was Costly

 Wednesday night, I went to bed but could not sleep. I could not get comfortable. I had a knot on the back of my head. No matter which side I lay on, it hurt. Plus, I had a 'place' on my back that hurt. Then, I had to go to the bathroom. I heard Tommy making an unidentifiable noise. 

When I came into the living room, he had four garbage bags of recycling. He was sorting the bag of plastics. I sat down to talk since I was not sleeping. 

He tried to open the door. We were locked in! He tried to take it apart, but the deadbolt was in the door frame and would not move. I was not sleeping in a house I could not leave in case of a fire. Yes, there is a back door, but it is five feet down and scary steps, no railing. He called a locksmith. The nicest man showed up about 2:30. He had trouble getting the deadbolt out, too. But, he had knowledge and tools. 

The biggest surprise of all--he had a replacement deadbolt in his vehicle. He got it back together and tried to send a receipt to my email. Finally, he went out and brought one back in. That was $275 for the call. I apologized to him for getting him out in the middle of the night, forgetting that was his job. 

Since being locked inside was high drama for me and him, too, I suppose, we were not sleeping. I think we went to bed just before five. Just before 7 am, I heard an awful noise that sounded like metal scraping on the asphalt right outside my window, except there is no asphalt outside my window. I ran to look out the fanlight. It was a piece of equipment digging in the yard across the street and down one house. This house has had plumbing problems for about four years. It seems they are always digging1 somewhere in the yard. It is a rental, so I wonder. I imagine they will be back early tomorrow! GRRR

I was up with less than two hours sleep. I let Tommy sleep until 11 am and turned on the news. Around noon we went to Publix and The Pig to buy items on sale. Tommy had loaded the recycling into the back, but he did not send anyone out to collect it. I asked someone to carry it in. We are rid of those at last. This city does not recycle. 

I added more turkey to my leftover salad. The salad greens were soggy, but I didn't care. I feel horrible and just wanted to eat something healthful, followed it with strawberries. 

Tonight about 5 pm, I finally put color on my hair. About 2 inches was grown out, meaning I had a four-inch wide patch right on top of my head! It was disgusting. 

Speaking of disgusting, Tommy bought some Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale. 

I have only been locked inside the house once before. I managed to get the lock unstuck then. I would have hurt myself trying to get out the door and down the steps. Tommy said he hung onto the screen door handle and eased himself down the steps until he could touch the utility room wall and then hung onto the door and wall to get the rest of the way down. 

Too tired to go on. Knot on head hurts. 'Place' on my back hurts. Going to bed.

Have you ever been locked inside your house? How did you get the door open?

Haave you ever tasted Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale? Did you like it? 

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?

Synchronicity and Derailing

Did you ever have a day start with such promise and such synchronous events that made you happy and still keep derailing all day long? I had one of those days today.

First of all, I did not sleep well after the little  health crisis yesterday. Not enough sleep always means I am scattered the next day and hurt lots. Fibromyalgia needs a proper amount of sleep.

I had  found a box to pack away the tall lady lady lamp base. Fortunately, the box I found had another box just smaller stuffed inside it. Both were tall and skinny--just the thing for a tall lamp. I threw a plastic bag of tulle in the bottom of the box, calling it padding. Then, with help from exbf, I managed to get the lamp inside with the harp tied to the upright rod. Then, I used two 4'x2' pieces of quarter-inch, brittle foam in the box, bending it so she is protected. Taping the box up was an ordeal. I could not have done it all without exbf to help me. Now I must find a  18"x18" box for the lampshade--at  least that size. Larger will work.

Another find was an odd shaped box that I suspected I would never find. I did. That will be for a later post. Both boxes had to be oddly-shaped for boxes, and they appeared in front of me just when I needed them, no earlier or later. .

We had to go out for errands and use my car because I was returning something in the trunk. I left my cell phone in the house and was too tired to go get it. Remember--it has a car key on it. My keyring was not in my purse after I had locked the door and gotten in the car. So, I used the car key on my change purse that hold bills and change. When we got to the gas station, I took the key out of the ignition, got  money out, and locked the car, leaving the change purse on the dash. I had paid for the gas and exbf was pumping it. Since I always have my cell phone in my pocket, I did not bother to take the change purse.

I was locked out of the car in front of the pump. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR!

I have my insurance agent's number memorized, so I called and talked to my long-time employee. She sent the locksmith and drove to the station to give him a check. The locksmith who unlocked my car last time was a disaster, AND I thought he was going to tear up the door.  was glad to see my regular locksmith. I should keep him on retainer. I keep asking for a frequent-locker discount. They are not amused.  For something less than $3, I get roadside service. Unlocking my car is the only service I ever use.

I had coupons for free ice cream cones from Burger King that consoled me after my ditzy self made a mess and our chores.

My cell phone was still in my bed and my key ring was beside the cushion in my chair where I always sit. Yes, I searched for and retrieved them both when I got home after a few chores we had to do. I must say, exbf never chides me for losing keys or leaving them home or locking myself out of car and house. He just asks gently, "Why,,,,,,,,,,,,?"  He is perplexed by all my answers.. Okay, I am under stress and hurt all the time. And, I always have a lame brained excuse. However, I have been a ditz with keys since I went through menopause.

Honestly, I think the man is allergic to my kitchen. He is probably allergic to any kitchen. When I asked him to help me clean out the refrigerator, he came bravely.You could tell by the set of his jaw that he was trying hard not to run.  I cannot bend over and stand up over and over, so I tackled one shelf and said, "Trash, hens, in sink, left of sink, for you, right of sink," handing things as I hunched over, holding on to the refrigerator and trying not to whimper too much. Finally, when one shelf was cleared, I could barely stand or walk. So, that was it for today. I have three more shelves, the meat drawer, two crispers and the butter thing on the door.

 Can you see how long it will take to clean out the refrigerator? Then, and only then, can I empty all the shelves to wash inside. If the world actually comes to an end in December, maybe I won't have to actually wash it inside. You gotta love the Mayans.

I did not put the ground round out in time to thaw today. So, I put it in an iron skillet with some water, intending to thaw it and chop it up to serve on the hamburger bun. We were going to have hamburgers and a large salad of spinach, carrots, tomatoes, yellow squash, and pickled cucumbers with Vidalia Onion dressing.  I remarked it was 5:51 and exbf became irritated for the first time  today. Okay, not the first, just the worst...lol.

He just packed up his work clothes, food I had given him, and waited until I had cut and cubed a cantaloupe for him. You know the hens will love the seeds tomorrow morning! He left. I think getting the cantaloupe sort of calmed him down.

Edit: This part was left out of original post. I must not have saved!


End of edit.

Before I left home to look for him and before he left, I had put the frozen beef in an iron skillet with a bit of water, intending to thaw it and eat it all chopped and still call it a hamburger. When I arrived home after trying to catch him, the meat was burning on the stove....sigh. Not much, thankfully. So, I scraped bits of only slightly scorched meat and chopped it and will have dinner in  a bit. Or, I could eat cookies!
So many things went right today. I was incredibly lucky with the box and other things, but then I got off track many times. Derailment is NOT fun. Maybe seeing the boxes in an unexpected place was not synchronicity.

Your turn
Do you ever have a day that seems driven by dual forces? Do the ups and downs of a day sometimes drain you? Okay, I need sleep...lol.