January 13, 2010

• Breaking and Entering

  I had a unique experience last night when I got home from work. I broke into my own apartment.

  

  For ever since I can remember, my doorknob has been very finicky, wanting to be turned a specific way to open. Lately, since the cold weather, the damn thing has been sticking real bad.

  The past couple of days, it’s been so bad that it was like a security device making sure i couldn’t get out of my own apartment. When you turned it, it sounded like something was girding or in a bind. You’d have to turn it back and forth several times to get it to open, and even then that was only after a period of time.

  Despite almost not being able to get out of my apartment yesterday morning, I didn’t bother calling the apartment office.

  When I got home, I couldn’t get into my apartment. I turned the knob this way and that, but it wouldn’t open. The feeling and sound of grinding was ever-present, but that door just didn’t want to open. I had two neighbors stop and help me but they couldn’t get it open either. So we decided to take a ball peen hammer and beat the knob until it came off.

  

  As you can see, the knob took a real pounding

  Now I could have called the office, but if you will recall, they have no emergency number, so that would have mean spending at least an evening without a door knob. Now granted, there is only one way into and out of my apartment complex, it is right on the highway and up a small hill, so chances are slim that I would have had a break-in attempt, but I didn’t want to take my chances. Plus, I’d have to explain to the clowns at the office that I broke the doorknob because it was already broken.

  

  Prepped door for my considerable carpentry skills

  So I stuffed the doorknob with plastic bags, went to Home Depot, purchased a new knob for $9 tax and all and used every bit of my carpentry skills to put a new knob on. Really, it was worth the $9 not having to deal with the office, and now, the deadbolt has smother action on it and the door is a better fit for the doorframe.

  

  The finished product

  • 7:49 pm
  • 6 Comments