Repairmen...
Sep. 15th, 2007 11:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rabidsamfanThis has been the week of repairmen. First, a locksmith. I had a friend over last Saturday night and on Sunday morning when we went out she politely locked the door behind her.... only she used the doorknob lock, which I never touch. I locked the deadbolt, never thinking, and when I came home hours later I had to call a locksmith. Couldn't pick the lock, had to drill it. *sigh*
The new doorknob set matched the two deadbolts in brand, so with my landlady's permission, I had the guy back to set all three locks to the same key.
Same weekend, same friend visiting, the "new" TV I got from Jewelsong decided to go all stripey and die on me. So while I was getting the locksmith back I looked up TV repair people and found a guy who would come to the house and see if it was repairable. He turned up today, and fixed the TV. (If any of you are in the Boston area it was Belmont TV and I highly recommend them!)
Now, the bad thing about these repair guys is that they all want cash. No Visa, no Mastercard. Cash money. On the barrelhead. (That's what ATMS are for, right?) But I have to say... it's been worth it.
Because it's fun to watch an expert at work. And it's nice to have someone who sees a problem explain it to you so you can make a good decision. The locksmith gave me the option of keeping a slightly tricky cylinder on the top lock, or buying new. (I kept the tricky one -- it's not that bad.) And the TV guy didn't go until he'd hooked everything up again -- the RIGHT way -- and made sure that I knew how to duplicate the things he'd done and get the signal through the various inputs. He also told me what kind of new universal remote to buy and why.
So at the end of the week I have a much happier tv set, and a single key that can get me into my apartment instead of three keys. My wallet is flatter -- but all in all, I'm content.
The new doorknob set matched the two deadbolts in brand, so with my landlady's permission, I had the guy back to set all three locks to the same key.
Same weekend, same friend visiting, the "new" TV I got from Jewelsong decided to go all stripey and die on me. So while I was getting the locksmith back I looked up TV repair people and found a guy who would come to the house and see if it was repairable. He turned up today, and fixed the TV. (If any of you are in the Boston area it was Belmont TV and I highly recommend them!)
Now, the bad thing about these repair guys is that they all want cash. No Visa, no Mastercard. Cash money. On the barrelhead. (That's what ATMS are for, right?) But I have to say... it's been worth it.
Because it's fun to watch an expert at work. And it's nice to have someone who sees a problem explain it to you so you can make a good decision. The locksmith gave me the option of keeping a slightly tricky cylinder on the top lock, or buying new. (I kept the tricky one -- it's not that bad.) And the TV guy didn't go until he'd hooked everything up again -- the RIGHT way -- and made sure that I knew how to duplicate the things he'd done and get the signal through the various inputs. He also told me what kind of new universal remote to buy and why.
So at the end of the week I have a much happier tv set, and a single key that can get me into my apartment instead of three keys. My wallet is flatter -- but all in all, I'm content.
