It was an interesting night last night.
First – the apartment I currently inhabit has a single door to enter or exit the apartment…and, as we’re on the 2nd/3rd floors, there is no other way to get into the unit unless you start dragging in ladders and breaking glass.
A single point of entry. Or…a single way to get OUT.
Last night, that door decided, in whatever passes for wisdom in woodwork, to go on strike.
The internals for the door handle failed.
I’m just glad we found out about this last night, instead of this morning…you know…Monday “I gotta get to work!” morning.
How did we find this meltdown of hardware? Well, the kids went out and about yesterday, where I stayed quite content at home, packing more stuff, cleaning the kitchen, goofing about on the Evil Book of Faces while ignoring the stuff that was playing on the TV. All in all, a fairly standard Sunday.
The kids tried the door. I heard the key scrape in the lock. Then a thump as they tried to open the thing. Then another scrape of the key. Yup…another thump.
At this point, I sauntered up to the door. Deadbolt was retracted, so I tried the handle.
Enter … the situation.
Actually, NO ENTRY would be the situation, as the handle was no longer retracting the little metal hasp which keeps the door rather firmly secure against unwanted visitors.
The door handle is ancient. I’d have to guess it’s older than I am (the real, calendar age, not the fiction I keep attempting to run regarding the number 29), so it’s certainly lived the doorknob equivalent of a good life. At some point … it’s gonna fail. Everything does.
They built things to last back then…and to resist their retirement.
The problem was with the handle. Now, it’s been a long time since I got up close and personal with door hardware, but I’ll assume that modern units have a handle (or round knob) that you screw onto the shaft that goes through the door. This sucker was press-fit into place, and didn’t want anything to do with me yanking it apart.
It had securely held this door shut for over 50 years, thank you very much, and wasn’t budging.
Between calling the apartment’s emergency maintenance number, listing to the kids cuss and swear on the hallway end of the door, and employing various tools, it took me a good 45 minutes to get that handle off so I could get to the internals on the door and finally open it.
Hurrah for brute strength and claw hammers!
But, I may be taking this the wrong way. What if this is the apartment’s way of telling me it doesn’t want me to leave?
The Tempest and the Teapot 
😀
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I definitely think it’s trying to tell you something. Possessive? Or possessed?
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I think the apartment is experiencing separation anxiety. I’ll have to walk by the building on occasion after the move is complete to give it a gentle hug.
It’ll eventually be fine with new tenants, but it’s so hard to break in a new set sometimes 😀
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That’s one way of looking at it… It doesn’t want you to go! But all good things must end, apartment, it’s time to move on. 🙂
I have a morbid fear of my place catching fire, and when we lived on the tenth floor with only one way in and out of the apartment, I was honestly in a constant state of low panic because my anxiety kept whispering to me, “What if there’s a fire?” Never again. Any place I live in from now on will have two ways in and out.
I’m glad you got your door open without too much trouble.
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Makes me kinda glad the home I found is a little ranch. All living spaces are close to the ground. If a fire breaks out, I’m throwing something through a window moments before I throw myself through it.
And the ground will be close at hand…er…faceplant, knowing my sense of balance 😀
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I wonder if you only noticed the following morning if that would be an acceptable reason to work from home!? I mean it’s not your fault if you can’t leave the house…
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It would have been the home’s fault…but I can’t really call in my job. Too much paperwork on my desk.
I do have plenty of personal time banked, and a very good call in policy adopted by my employer, so I wouldn’t get into trouble if it had happened in the am.
Hell, I probably would have given the entire office their laugh of the WEEK.
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