Aiya! Today we
actually got up pretty early, ate breakfast, read the paper, and then
planned to go to Ikea to look around and have lunch. We’re on our
way to the garage when I think to ask Toshi if he has the keys.
Nope … no keys. We were locked out of our place with no way of
breaking in. Fortunately, I had my cell phone, so we called my
mom who gave us the number for a locksmith. About an hour later
the guy shows up. He fiddles with the lock for about four or five
minutes and then decides he can’t pick it and has to drill
through the lock, destroying it. He then drills a hole and uses a
screwdriver to open the door. In all he had been at our place for
about ten minutes. We walk him to his car where he gives us an
invoice for $200!
Flashback to about six months ago … we came home from my parents’
house on Saturday night around 11pm to find that we had locked
ourselves out. We called a locksmith and waited outside in the
car. About 30 minutes later, this car pulled up behind ours and
two guys got out and peed in the bushes across the street from our
house. I’m sure you’ve guessed by now that these were our
locksmiths. Apparently fresh from a party, the guys stumbled up
to our door, and although they were sloshed and it was dark and our
lock (thanks to Toshi) is on upside down, they managed to get our door
open. Two guys for over half an hour of work in the middle of the
night on a Saturday … the invoice was for $80.
So, you can imagine our surprise when we received today’s news.
Toshi totally went off on the poor guy. It wasn’t really his
fault … that was the price quoted to him by his boss over the
phone. So, I tried to call his boss and he hung up on me, of
course. I said we were going to call the Better Business Bureau
and the guy backed down and lowered the price to $130, but Toshi kept
at him until he lowered it to $100, but add to that the price to
replace the lock and we’re still at $150. I do feel a bit sorry
for the locksmith because I think he forfeited his part of the money to
keep Toshi from doing him some kind of physical harm. I’m just
hoping that they don’t call up the Armenian mafia for retribution.
On a lighter note, we went car shopping yesterday. When my
student loans are paid off, I’m going to get a new car. I want a
small SUV. After lots of reading and research, I think I’m going
to get a new RAV4. We looked at CRV’s, the Jeep Liberty, and lots
of really nice ones that are out of my price range. The interior
of the RAV4 is a bit cheesy, but I may upgrade to leather
interior. The new one is 14 inches longer than the old model and
looks much more solid. I was impressed. It’s still a few
months away, but it was fun to shop.
and we did make it to Ikea. For the uninitiated, Ikea is a
Swedish furniture store full of stylish but cheap stuff. This
isn’t heirloom furniture … more like college furniture, but it’s fun
to see how designers can furnish small spaces so efficiently. We
joke that entering our bedroom is like taking a trip to Sweden.
It’s all Ikea … leftovers from my first apartment. But, it is
cute.
And, you can’t go to Ikea without having Swedish meatballs. Tasty
and cheap with lingonberry moussecake for dessert. 
Poisoned by Fairy Tales 
a bed and sweedish meetballs? hmm what a dream…lol
You might want to keep a spare house key in the glove box of your new car…lol. No, seriously I agree with Toshi, $200. is just outrageous and me being me I would still report his attempt to charge that to the BBB. I had several light switches and plugs that were put in upside down, I was surprised to find that you can get used to switching up for off and plugging your blowdrier in completely oposite from what you’ve become accustomed to think is “normal”. I guess it just proves if given enough time you can get used to about anything.
I swear my next car (probably in a decade!) will be a hybrid!