In the late 70’s I did some work for a locksmith, mostly cleaning his shop and packing up machines because he was selling his business. He taught me something about locks, too, and as a result of that, I used to go on calls with him to get into cars/homes/etc. that people had locked themselves out of. IN fairly short order, I had become one of the best b&e guys in the business- but of course I only did this under legal circumstances.

So today, while getting scrips filled at Wally World (I try not to spend money there, but the pharmacy is the only one open the hours I need) I’m wandering by the closeout area, and I see this Sentry Safe. It’s $49, marked down to $8. Because it has no keys.

I shake it,and realize that the keys are inside.

SO I buy it. Hell, I’ve blown more than $8 on lunch. This week.

I get it home. It has a 4 bit lock,(four sets of tumblers) so it’s gonna be tough, but even in my semi-inebriated state (yes, the codeine is wearing off, thank you) (ouch)I find my kit and manage to get the sucker open in less than five minutes. And yes, the keys are inside. So I now have a $50 safe, in perfect condition, for $8. Nice.

Now, a word to the wise about picking locks. It’s harder than it looks- and if you’re not manually dextrous, don’t.And merely posessing lockpicks is illegal all over the damned place. And another word to the wise: if you keep your door locks smooth as silk, neatly oiled and clean, and the key turns in it like butter, you’re making it easy on anyone trying to get in with a lockpick. My locks are all stiff. It’s sometimes a bit hard to get the key in. And on all the doors you can’t turn the key unless you lift the door a tiny bit. Making them practically impossibel to pick. Think about this when you consider “fixing” that sticky old lockset.