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fickle_serendipity
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# Posted: 2 Sep 2015 09:25 - Edited by: fickle_serendipity
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Life can be so darn FICKLE.....I had to do this last week....
I set off with a bag of clothes, 2 kids, a lawn mower, generator and cooler....no tools, cause they are inside the cabin... (duh,lol)....just to arrive after 10 LONG MONTHS of heart-wretched longing (sigh), to find that I am............
LOCKED OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAAAA????
Well...let me say...I was NOT to be denied!!!.... and OH NO....I was NOT gonna turn around and drive another 2 hours and 15 minutes back home with a toddler who insisted on watching nothing in the car but "Clifford the Big Red Dog"......... over and over again.........besides that, it was dinner time, and not only were WE gettin hungry, but so were those birds they call mosquitoes 'round here.........
..........so, grillin tools in hand and trusty rocking chair off the porch, we set out to (hopefully) find a window that fortunately hadn't been latched. YES! SERENDIPITY! It took a bit of strategic prying with the spatula and a fork, which no longer has tines (OOPS), some chunks of wood to keep it pried out, a fair share of muscle aaaaannnnnnnd I promise you.... a little bit of sweet talk but......
WHALAA...................we were climbing through the window and unlocking the deadbolt just a mere dozen skeeter bites later........a dead bolt that, for the life of me, I cannot figure out why I do not have the key for.... especially cause for as far as I am aware, I was the last one to lock up and would have needed the key in order to do that 
......and with the conquest, the best thing happened.....in happy celebration I found myself belting out the Helen Reddy song "I Am Woman, Hear me Roar", while high-fiving my 12 year old daughter for her awesome assistance which.........take my word for it.......was SOOO much better than having the mind numbing theme song 'I love Clifford...the BIG red dog!' haunt my every thought!
We ended up having a wonderful time, and this time when we left, I made sure I did not somehow lock the deadbolt
What about you? something tells me I cannot be the only one so unfortunate as to be locked out of their very own wonderful sanctuaries???
What's your conquest or defeat?
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creeky
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# Posted: 2 Sep 2015 11:29
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I learned any house can be broken into in 5 minutes or less when I was 10. 10 year old boys are a menace. A menace I say. However the skill set acquired has saved me more than a few times.
Most recently, I had just added lovely french doors to the studio. I admired them. They were fine. Then i turned the lock on the really cool fern shaped door handle I got at a bargain center for pennies on the dollar. Yup. It locks I said to myself feeling all satisfied that a purchase made some years before was finally paying off. And then.
And then I closed the door.
Oh but. As my grandmother would say. Oh, but I patted my pockets. I don't have any keys. I went around the back of the studio. Oh but. Oh, but I left the back door locked after going shopping.
I won't go in to how my B&E skills acquired when I was ten saved the day, save that a small crowbar was necessary.
Oh, but: now I only lock the studio with the key in my hand. And I still haven't hidden a key on the property. I should probably go do that right now.
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Wilbour
Member
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# Posted: 2 Sep 2015 11:35
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Because I know how forgetful I am, I use the "Smart Key" brand locks at both home and cabin so the same key opens everything.
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NorthRick
Member
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# Posted: 2 Sep 2015 11:53
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We keep the key hidden out at the cabin. When we arrive, one of us gets the key and unlocks the door. Then, before doing ANYTHING else, the key is returned to the hiding place.
Our neighbors do the same. We know where their key is and they know where ours is. Partly so we can get in to get something or check on something and partly for safety. If a cabin goes up in flames in the middle of winter and you find your self standing in the snow in your PJs at -10F, you've got somewhere close to go.
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Malamute
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# Posted: 2 Sep 2015 16:26
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A neighbor has a key, though I have managed to not be able to get in when they werent available. I cut the lock off with a dremel cutting wheels borrowed from a different neighbor. It was about zero out that time.
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Wilbour
Member
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# Posted: 2 Sep 2015 20:35
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"Ptuew" Zero. That's nothing...oh wait....you meant °F
Yah that's cold
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BryanL
Member
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# Posted: 4 Sep 2015 11:01
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I hang a set of keys from one of the hundreds of trees around, but not too close, to the cabin. Keys pretty much blend right in and you would really have to be looking for them to find them. Problem is finding the right tree when you need them.
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1tentman
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# Posted: 4 Sep 2015 13:45
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We also have a key hidden at the cabin, started out putting one in each vehicle,but that ended up a bigger pain than it was worth, because after you unlocked the cabin you would go to the vehicle to move it and the keys would be in the cabin,or you wanted to lock up and leave the keys would be in the vehicle. After a lot of wasted trips hunting for keys I told the wife we have to make this easier, hid one on the way to the front door made life a lot easier.
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Just
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# Posted: 4 Sep 2015 17:12
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us to, it's under the frog,, shhhhhhhhh
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Bevis
Member
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# Posted: 5 Sep 2015 01:04
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Quoting: Wilbour Because I know how forgetful I am, I use the "Smart Key" brand locks at both home and cabin so the same key opens everything.
I did the same when I had my cabin...still do it with my barn, and parents house.
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Gary O
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# Posted: 5 Sep 2015 05:57 - Edited by: Gary O
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I did that too.
only, the darn thing is pretty good at hiding
hate it when I look in the window and see it on the table, mocking me
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SE Ohio
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# Posted: 7 Sep 2015 20:14
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Had the cabin door lock altered to match our home key. One key chain, two residences. Extra gate key is stashed far from gate, but has come in handy more than once.
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fickle_serendipity
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# Posted: 9 Sep 2015 09:48
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Over many years there have been numerous keys hanging on a certain tree but there was none this time. Not surprising though cause there was always someone who went up early or back to the cabin before the others, or whatever, so it has ended up who knows where.
As for where my key went for the deadbolt, I realize that what i must have done when the door knob was replaced a bit back, I without thinking, put the new key on and took the old key off my ring. I thought it was re keyed, but I must be confusing that for the back door here at home.....I know something was re-keyed. Lol.....I guess I am getting old.......oh memory, oh memory. Yikes!
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bugs
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# Posted: 9 Sep 2015 12:44
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Never had to break in yet thankfully but in mid June this year we had to CUT our way into our shack and outhouse because the forest tent caterpillars were making cocoons and "sewed" the doors shut. Quite the sight....and mess. Everything left outside was covered in cocoons.
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fickle_serendipity
Member
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# Posted: 9 Sep 2015 13:46
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Oh yuck!!! That would be an inconvenience for sure!
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creeky
Member
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# Posted: 9 Sep 2015 14:57
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bugs. we've had a bad year for tent caterpillars here too.
my mennonite grandfather hated tents (the farm was in the warmen area sask.). we would drive along and he would say ... look boys there's a tent. and we would go home, get the gas and head back. He would soak the tent lightly with gas and then spark a match.
to this day I have trouble driving by a tent. on my property and a mile around I see one. I go home and grab the wd-40. go back. spray. spark a match.
yer a bug guy. am I being proactive or ... I would like to know.
I hope I'm doing the right thing. I've burnt 6 tents this year.
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Sustainusfarm
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# Posted: 24 Jan 2016 10:13
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Fickle?? Serendipity?? that name rings a bell>>> do we know each other??
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 24 Jan 2016 11:30 - Edited by: toyota_mdt_tech
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Yes, I had to. I grabbed the wrong key. I now have it marked with a tag and stamped on the key. I had tools, so I drilled out my locks/deadbolt,. Took a long time. My place it tough to break into unless you want to break a window. went to town and bought a new matching Schlage lockset for $65.
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DRR
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# Posted: 24 Jan 2016 20:38 - Edited by: DRR
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I'm sorry Bugs, but that's disgusting. You're stronger than I could ever be dealing with that.
I locked myself out this last summer. Had to ask a neighbor to help out. Nothing like drilling out a deadbolt with a lantern for light. Fun for all!
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neb
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# Posted: 24 Jan 2016 21:44 - Edited by: neb
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I don't lock mine but not sure if someone could figure how to get into it. Lol I have part of the lock but I don't have a door knob installed so you have to use an object about 5 inches long and slide this shaft that runs inside of door to open it. Lol
I have a few of those objects hidden on site. Lol
That is one thing I need to do this winter or spring is get a locking system. I have pull handles to open and close the door now.
I have never had a soul do anything there yet. I'm very remote in a box canyon. One way in and one way out and one mile from a road. Then shack is hid pretty good with a long walk up and a few drop offs to walk through.
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