Information and excuses. I always wind up with too little of one and too much of the other. Last night is a good example of the first. At 9:45 P.M. I get a call to unlock an RV for an older couple. RV's are a pain because they have wafer locks. These can be very difficult to pick. AND some RV's have wafer locks with wafers on both the top and bottom of the keyhole. THAT requires a bit of tricky picking because once you get one side picked, you have to maintain pressure on the lock to keep what you've got and at the same time move the tension wrench to the opposite side of the keyhole so you can pick the wafers on the other side of the lock. Most RV's have the double sided wafer locks. That's bad enough, but in this case I have to drive 52 miles one way to get to the job. So at about quarter to 11 I arrive and begin to work. It took a little time but I got the lock to turn, I even heard something click on the inside, however it didn't turn all the way as I expected. But I tried the handle and no soap. Well, I figure the lock must have been installed backwards. That means that instead of the key turning to the right to unlock the door, it turns to the left. That is actually a common problem and has happened more than once on homes, businesses and RV's. So I pick the lock the other way. Same results. When this kind of thing happens the usual answer is the Redneck's friend. WD-40. I squirted the lock and picked it back the first way in the belief that because of gunk in the lock it just didn't want to turn. With the lube in there it picked easier the second time around, again I hear that something click but nothing I can do will get it to turn all the way. I'm working with the handle to see if I can feel anything that might be binding up when the lady tells me,
"That door is kind of tight. You have to really pull on it to get it to open."
I grab the handle and instead of just pulling it, I give it a jerk. The door pops right open. At this point I'm thinking,
'Lady why didn't you tell me that half an hour ago? I could already be half way home by now.'
I didn't say it, but I thought it.
And as for excuses, earlier this week I get called to a business to get a guy into his office. It is routine to ask about the problem before I start just to get a good idea of what I'm up against. The guy tells me,
"I have a key for the door, but it's on my wife's keychain. And she's on her way to North Carolina."
Un-huh. Your office and your wife has the key. Okay, maybe you work together and you just forgot to get the key from her. Have you ever thought of having two keys? And what are you going to do at the end of the day when you want to go home? Never mind, none of my business. Then there is last Monday night I think. The apartment has a smart key lock and no other way to get in. True the girl told me the windows were unlocked, but the apartment is on the third floor. I'm not Spiderman. It turns out that she has lost the key and I ask how that happened.
"I came out to walk my dog and I must have dropped them. But I've looked everywhere I walked her and can't find them anywhere."
"So that's all you did, just walk the dog?"
"No, I also had to throw some trash in the dumpster."
Can you imagine dumpster diving at ten 0'clock at night? We found the keys, for which she was quite happy. At first she wanted to protest the bill, because I didn't pick the lock. I pointed out that the charge was just for the service call which was $29 and I DID go dumpster diving to get them back for her. She saw my point and agreed to pay the bill.