27 March 2006

All locked up

Until last Thursday when we signed our lease and became legal residents of our abode, we only had one set of keys. We traded them back and forth depending on who was going out or coming back at what time. In order to open the front door you have to have a key - whether you locked it or not. So one day I declared my plans and left. I was locked out, but I was also locked in.

Our house like all the houses here, has a gated yard. The gate locks too. Without the keys, I couldn't open the gate. Without the keys, I couldn't open the door to the house to get the keys to the gate. I could go nowhere. In Spain, could someone starve to death on their front or back porch?! I buzzed the doorbell and Dar came and let me in and then out. There's a phone with a special buzzer for opening the gate without a key.

Last week, we got our keys. So no more being locked in and locked out at the same time, hopefully. But then Saturday, I thought everyone was in the car waiting for me (we were going on a day trip), so I locked the house and ran out. I got to the car and realized I forgot my sunglasses. I rushed back and opened the door to find our house guest standing there. I'd locked her in. She was trying to decide whether to call someone's cell phone or stand in the window and wave. You can't open the door from the inside without the keys once it's locked.

7 comments:

  1. Wow, sounds confusing.

    We used to have a deadbolts on our doors that required a key from the inside and outside to lock or unlock. We thought that could be a dangerous situation in the middle of the night if the house is on fire and you can't find your keys, so we replaced the deadbolt with one that was a thumbturn on the inside.

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  2. too confusing for me! We have the deadbolt you have to have a key for inside or outside. I keep the key in it on the inside! :) It was that or not use it...

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  3. That system sounds very old school. The house sounds like a good setting for a mystery.

    For some reason while reading your post, I kept thinking of the movie The Others with Nicole Kidman. She locked every room in the house after leaving it. And you needed a key to get into each room.

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  4. What do people do if they can't find their keys? I'm glad you got another set. It sounds like a risky system.

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  5. We keep a spare set at the office. This doesn't allay the fact that our clocks keep stopping between the hours of 11 and 12. Some of them are battey powered... Lastnight our clockradio alarm (electric) went off at midnite and I couldn't turn it off.

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  6. definately sounds like a great movie, mystery would be great! I think you should think about it and start writing now! You make a great movie and never have to itenerate again! :)

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  7. Strangely, I hadn't thought of the mystery angle! I do like to leave the keys in the lock when I'm inside with it locked in case I need a quick escape.

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