Well, the title of the post may be abstract and the amount of money quoted maybe not quite be a round figure to lose, the experience was quite bizarre and in the end, funny as well.
It all started on Sunday evening, a pleasant evening for a walk and thats what we did, I and my wife, went around the block and headed off to the supermarket to buy groceries and came back home to find the apartment entry door locked. Now, I know that it may be a common practice to lock your apartment block entry door wherever you live, but not at my place, simply because none of the residents have the key to the door. So, if it was locked, we call any of the other three apartments in the block and they have to come out and open the door. The intercom opening method is presently not working as well.
So, it was locked and we tried to call the other apartment, two of them, no answer. So I trotted off to the back door to try to get it opened. That door was half locked and I could not see the door properly because of the poor lighting there. In the midst of all confusion, I inserted the key to my own home into the keyhole and tried twisting it. (Now, I am still getting the punishment for that from my wife).
I could not open the door and then tried to take the key out, it came out, half bent. I tried to bend it straight, and it broke !!!.
Then came around to the front door, sheepishly explained everything to my wife and then called the last flat and that person came down to open the door.
Then we tried to open the door with the broken key, no luck obviously. Then, a flash of genius, I remembered seeing a locksmith’s number on the entry door downstairs, luckily had my mobile with me and it was a 24 hr service number. Praise the LORD. Called the locksmith and he will be available in 10 mins at my doorstep. Praise the LORD louder.
Then he explained that it was a weekend and after hours anyway, and the cost of the visit will be $120. That was not a problem, as Commonwealth Bank is around the corner. Got the money, the guy came along, opened the door after using just three (!!!) tools in less than 120 secs.
So, $120 for less than 120 secs. Now, that is some ratio of how I would like my income to be, not my expenses.
March 6, 2007 at 2:09 pm
Oh dear… that was bad!
Coming to $120 in 120 seconds, I am reminded of the joke that used to go round long back.
There was a problem in a ship and after trying various things to sort the problem, they called an expert who came along with a hammer, tapped at some place and got it working. He sent a bill for $1000, which the ship owner asked him to explain. The expert sent the following breakup.
Tapping with a hammer – $5
Knowing where to tap – $995
March 7, 2007 at 12:10 am
i had a similar experience…we got locked out (my mistake) on a saturday and had to pay around 110$ to the locksmith!i was furious with myself!
March 7, 2007 at 10:11 am
The best thing that I and my wife thought, after the ordeal though, was that atleast someone was available to take us in, otherwise it would have been out on the streets, literally.
March 22, 2007 at 2:47 am
What an experience
I was locked out as well one time and left my key inside my apartment. Luckily, it’s not weekend and my property agent still opened. I went there and borrowed the spare keys 
March 30, 2007 at 3:03 am
Harsh mate, it seems that I am equally skilled at losing money too…mine are due to bank charges but the affect is the same, I guess.
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