helpless no more

for the longest time, i've had difficulty closing the double lock on my front door. one time, the key twisted in the process, but i was able to coax it back to serviceable form so i didn't really think about it any more.

until yesterday morning when the key broke as i was locking the door.

as in broke in half.

as in part of it was stuck on the double lock of my front door and the other half on my hand. pretty much like the key in the picture.

thankfully, i was able to easily remove the broken part using a pair of pliers. locking the door, though, was a different problem altogether. all i had was my key. my brother had the other key, and my mom, the last key. i knew we had a duplicate somewhere (my mom is organized that way) but (1) i don't know where the duplicates are; (2) my mom has been in the US for 8 years so i can't exactly ask her and expect her to remember pronto; and (3) i was so late for work that i can't spare a minute to look for it.

and as for my brother, let's just say he's incommunicado and i may be dying in a corner ditch somewhere and he wouldn't be my first call since i'd probably be dead, buried, and rotting somewhere already before he returns my call. i love him, but he's not exactly reliable. let's leave it at that.

so there i was, with a broken key in hand, and absolutely late for work. so i did the unthinkable -- i left the front door unlocked with a major prayer to god -- a prayer i kept repeating the entire day -- to please protect my home -- and my entire worldly belongings -- while i was away.



my friend said i could have the key duplicated, and i trusted him enough to believe what he said, but i was afraid that the key might not fit, or work, and i'd be forced to leave the house unlocked once more to get the new duplicate key "repaired."

so, i thought, why not replace the double lock on my door. as usual, google was my friend. it should be easy enough, at least it was easy in my mind. as a matter of fact, this website promised that i could do it in twenty minutes.

and you know what, they were right. in twenty minutes, i was able to get the old mechanism from the door, install the new one, and *pak* i have a new double lock installed.

now, if i can only learn how to buy stuff from the wet market. ☺

*first picture from monster guide.
*second picture from DIY Life