The players in this scene - The Bibik, one Ian Tie and a little boy Jim.
It was a hot and humid afternoon in Bedok South but, thankfully, we were safely ensconced in the piano room where the portable a/c was set to 'high'.
The little boy Jim needed to do a wee-wee and so tried to turn the door knob. Now this is no ordinary knob. Well, it is but there is a slight vacuum effect in said room as the a/c thingamajiggy sucks in air. This makes it difficult for the little 'uns to turn the knob as they don't yet have the strength (or know-how) to accomplish this otherwise simple task.
So up I got and went to rescue him. I turned the knob and nothing happened. And that was the beginning of the longest hour of my life (or at least the year.. so far).
Basically the deadlatch had broken and so the spindle wasn't connecting to it anymore. (see pic)
Before I go on let me say right here that for these few things I will be forever grateful:
1) that Ian Tie is a scout and welcomed a bit of adventure
2) that CJ was reachable by phone and had had a similar problem at some point in his life before today
3) that I had my iphone-PC charger cable in the room with me (so my fone wouldn't go dead halfway)
The rest of the story is simple - I got CJ on the line, told him what happened and he asked for a pic. (CJ if you're reading this try not to laugh too loudly at those last few words... I know they got a giggle out of me!)
I was told to wiggle that teensy weensy tiny clip on the left to try and click everything back into place (or else loosen or dislodge everything inside). Problem is that silly thing was stuck FAST!
Some other stuff happened now... we tried to hook the thing with an opened-up paper clip; attempted to pry away the angled bit of the strike plate; at one point I contemplated climbing out the window and back in thru the other bedroom window to try and get it open from the outside. (Which I now realise wouldn't have worked either so thankfully I didn't do that.)
Ian eventually managed to jimmy it loose enough and proceeded to move it to and fro while turning the knob at the same time. I realised that there was no more tension on the springs.
Also, looking between the door and the frame we saw some loose bits sort of just getting jostled about in there. Glad to almost be free Ian and I took turns turning the knob and fiddling around at said bits with the blade tip of a pair of scissors.
Eventually all the pieces came away and we weren't stuck anymore.
Also, looking between the door and the frame we saw some loose bits sort of just getting jostled about in there. Glad to almost be free Ian and I took turns turning the knob and fiddling around at said bits with the blade tip of a pair of scissors.
Eventually all the pieces came away and we weren't stuck anymore.
Oh. And apparently I cut myself in the process and didn't feel the pain till after dinner when I was doing the dishes. :(
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