Last night, one of my fears with my wonderful flat materialised.
I have two fears of my flat.
One, the fear of slipping when coming out of the bathtub/shower. Someone commented that maybe the bathtub is a novelty for me. Since we don't have a bathtub back in KL and the last flat only had a shower tray. Not that I haven't used a shower or bathtub before...
The other fear was the fear of being locked out.
Reason being that the main door has a Yale lock, the kind that you close the door and it locks itself.
Compared to any other places I have lived in, you will need a key to lock the doors. But not this one. So what I did was that I put the keys on my beautiful M&S side table and supposed to pick up the keys on my way out.
Somehow that didn't happened yesterday.
And I didn't know until I reached home in the evening.
I reached into my bag and I was like 'oh no, don't tell me it really happened'.
Unfortunately, 'oh yes, it is happening'.
I forgotten to bring my flat keys and I wasn't even rushing yesterday morning! Arrgghhh...
I tried my very best with whatever lock picking skills I had to open the door. Whatever they show you on tv or in the movies is just rubbish.
Honestly, if I can picked my own lock I would be worried too. How safe is the flat then??!
I didn't really know what to do, since it was my first time being locked out. Called almost every single person I know in Glasgow. I was insanely prepared to even fork out money to get a locksmith.
However, getting a locksmith is the most unfeasible thing to do because it was going to cost a bomb. And I found out later that the locksmith will most likely break the lock/door and then we have to replace it. Somehow I had the notion that they will have some master key to open the door. But I may be wrong and may be they have their ways of opening the lock? I can only but wonder.
Anyhows, while waiting for my friends to get back to me, I rang my neighbours door.
Jamal greeted me at the door. And I had to explain the whole situation to him. He was really nice to invite me in. Both Jamal and his wife Nazneen was really kind to make sure I was at home, being fed and comfortable.
After many calls to and from friends and even my boss, in the end the best option was to stay at someone's and call the letting agent in the morning.
The most sensible option was to stay at Jamal and Nazneen's since they just live opposite me.
I'm not very close to the family (they have two very young children) and this time would be the second time I ever visited them.
I was very touched that Jamal said to me that 'they are lucky that I locked out so that I can be visit them/be their guest'. And Nazneen said to me that 'I'm her sister' and that 'their home was my home as well'.
Compared to the amount of things (or what TOH and I call, shite) that I have, this family does not have a lot but they gave whatever they have to me. They gave their time, showed me their hostpitality, generosity and kindness, making sure I was well taken care of.
In this time and age, you really wonder how many nice people are out there. How many of us, actually know our neighbours?
I am so very grateful to them.
The next day, I called the letting agents and went down to collect the spare keys and unlocked my flat, before returning the keys and head off to work.
Looking back at the incident, I can't help but think that there are so many blessings in disguise.
#1: I got to know my neighbours better.
I've been told not to see them only when I have troubles but drop by as often.
#2: There are many people who will help you, where possible.
I don't know many people in Glasgow, besides Jamal and Nazneen, I had three offers of friend and colleagues to come and pick me up, to crash at theirs and sort it out the next day.
#3: I managed to renew my library book.
#4: Go to the bank and bank in my cheques and more importantly get my address changed.
#5: Had a good long hours sleep.
Since the family doesn't really do much at night because they have two very young kids, the best thing to do it go to bed once the children are asleep because as you know with babies, they wake up very early.
As much as everyone know that each person should get at least eight hours of sleep, I haven't been having the luxury of doing so. But not last night.
#6: Found out that there is a SPAR (convenience store) just round the corner from where I live. And found out where bus route 44A goes.
Since I had to go back to the letting agents to return the keys, I found out that there's this bus that goes pass this particular bus stop not far from where I live. On the bus, I found out that there are quite a fair number of shops. So now I know where to go if I need anything, in an emergency.
I'm sure there are a few more things that I can think of but in some ways, I'm glad that it happened. One thing for sure, I know now to be much much more careful and make sure I bring my keys with me.
Speaking to TOH after finding out that I was locked out, he can't believed that I locked myself out since I'm very careful all the time, guess not this time.
Anyways, to those who offered your place for me to stay overnight, I'm very grateful for your offer. Thanks and I know I you will be there to help me whenever I need help. Thanks.
I have two fears of my flat.
One, the fear of slipping when coming out of the bathtub/shower. Someone commented that maybe the bathtub is a novelty for me. Since we don't have a bathtub back in KL and the last flat only had a shower tray. Not that I haven't used a shower or bathtub before...
The other fear was the fear of being locked out.
Reason being that the main door has a Yale lock, the kind that you close the door and it locks itself.
Compared to any other places I have lived in, you will need a key to lock the doors. But not this one. So what I did was that I put the keys on my beautiful M&S side table and supposed to pick up the keys on my way out.
Somehow that didn't happened yesterday.
And I didn't know until I reached home in the evening.
I reached into my bag and I was like 'oh no, don't tell me it really happened'.
Unfortunately, 'oh yes, it is happening'.
I forgotten to bring my flat keys and I wasn't even rushing yesterday morning! Arrgghhh...
I tried my very best with whatever lock picking skills I had to open the door. Whatever they show you on tv or in the movies is just rubbish.
Honestly, if I can picked my own lock I would be worried too. How safe is the flat then??!
I didn't really know what to do, since it was my first time being locked out. Called almost every single person I know in Glasgow. I was insanely prepared to even fork out money to get a locksmith.
However, getting a locksmith is the most unfeasible thing to do because it was going to cost a bomb. And I found out later that the locksmith will most likely break the lock/door and then we have to replace it. Somehow I had the notion that they will have some master key to open the door. But I may be wrong and may be they have their ways of opening the lock? I can only but wonder.
Anyhows, while waiting for my friends to get back to me, I rang my neighbours door.
Jamal greeted me at the door. And I had to explain the whole situation to him. He was really nice to invite me in. Both Jamal and his wife Nazneen was really kind to make sure I was at home, being fed and comfortable.
After many calls to and from friends and even my boss, in the end the best option was to stay at someone's and call the letting agent in the morning.
The most sensible option was to stay at Jamal and Nazneen's since they just live opposite me.
I'm not very close to the family (they have two very young children) and this time would be the second time I ever visited them.
I was very touched that Jamal said to me that 'they are lucky that I locked out so that I can be visit them/be their guest'. And Nazneen said to me that 'I'm her sister' and that 'their home was my home as well'.
Compared to the amount of things (or what TOH and I call, shite) that I have, this family does not have a lot but they gave whatever they have to me. They gave their time, showed me their hostpitality, generosity and kindness, making sure I was well taken care of.
In this time and age, you really wonder how many nice people are out there. How many of us, actually know our neighbours?
I am so very grateful to them.
The next day, I called the letting agents and went down to collect the spare keys and unlocked my flat, before returning the keys and head off to work.
Looking back at the incident, I can't help but think that there are so many blessings in disguise.
#1: I got to know my neighbours better.
I've been told not to see them only when I have troubles but drop by as often.
#2: There are many people who will help you, where possible.
I don't know many people in Glasgow, besides Jamal and Nazneen, I had three offers of friend and colleagues to come and pick me up, to crash at theirs and sort it out the next day.
#3: I managed to renew my library book.
#4: Go to the bank and bank in my cheques and more importantly get my address changed.
#5: Had a good long hours sleep.
Since the family doesn't really do much at night because they have two very young kids, the best thing to do it go to bed once the children are asleep because as you know with babies, they wake up very early.
As much as everyone know that each person should get at least eight hours of sleep, I haven't been having the luxury of doing so. But not last night.
#6: Found out that there is a SPAR (convenience store) just round the corner from where I live. And found out where bus route 44A goes.
Since I had to go back to the letting agents to return the keys, I found out that there's this bus that goes pass this particular bus stop not far from where I live. On the bus, I found out that there are quite a fair number of shops. So now I know where to go if I need anything, in an emergency.
I'm sure there are a few more things that I can think of but in some ways, I'm glad that it happened. One thing for sure, I know now to be much much more careful and make sure I bring my keys with me.
Speaking to TOH after finding out that I was locked out, he can't believed that I locked myself out since I'm very careful all the time, guess not this time.
Anyways, to those who offered your place for me to stay overnight, I'm very grateful for your offer. Thanks and I know I you will be there to help me whenever I need help. Thanks.
2 comments:
I think that locksmith was very handy for me in that tight situation, when I locked myself out of my apartment. And I called to locksmith company. They said that locksmith will come in 30 minutes. He came at time. He checked my ID and opened the door in 10 minutes. Hiring a good locksmith is never cheap. But hiring a dishonest or incompetent one is always expensive.
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