Shiny

I backblipped yesterday after finding a photo I'd forgotten I'd taken.

An unexpectedly hectic day today. I had a 10 a.m. appointment in Narbonne to pick up some paperwork. I made sure I was ready to leave in plenty of time, collected my stuff, and unlocked the front door. Tried to open it. Nothing. Spent a minute trying to figure out whether I'd really unlocked it and finally had to admit it was jammed shut. A hopeful squirt of WD40 ... time was ticking by. OK, I'll leave by the back door, which we never use. The ancient, heavy key was jammed in the lock and wouldn't turn. More WD40. I was in a bit of a panic by this point. Back to the front door, and I eventually managed to wrench it open. Phew! Then it wouldn't close behind me, and the handle sagged miserably. Slammed it. It wouldn't lock. I'd wasted 15 minutes by now. So I left it as it was and hared off to be stuck behind slow-moving vehicles and wide loads. But I did make it to the appointment on time.

Next job: sit in the car googling locksmiths. Not as easy as you might think, but having identified one, they answered on the first ring and said they'd send someone out to arrive at around 12, and he would ring me when he set off. It was only 10:30, so I thought I could stick to my original plan of calling in to see Sue (still in hospital) before going home. I got to her room, she was awake, unusually, but I barely had time to exchange a few words when my phone rang. "I'll be there in 45 minutes." Argh!

I hared off back home, arriving five minutes before the locksmith did.  As I suspected he would, he said the whole lock and three-point locking system would have to be replaced ... not cheap. But he could do it right away. Or he thought he could, till he found the model he had in the van didn't fit. So he went off to Carcassonne to get the right bit, and I had a chance to chill for a bit.  He was back at 2 pm sharp, fitted the new lock, and also reckoned one reason the old one had broken was because the door had moved on its hinges over the years and caused uneven wear, so he put that right too. The bill was ouchy, but worth it to get everything sorted so promptly and efficiently. And now everything works smoothly, no more slamming or sticking. I solved the back door issue more cheaply by managing to get the key out of the lock, taking it outside, and unlocking the door from that side. Since that door has two other locks on it, we just won't use that one.

A quiet afternoon with a walk (blip) and a podcast. Then I went to the 6 pm yoga class, which was so relaxing it removed any remaining tension.