Kismet

[Sinifar]

Been a very hectic week, the sheriff is keeping me super busy, it is the end of the month and evictions are going off the board. So in the middle of this mess I get a call from a commercial bakery. They need the a Simplex 2000 taken off the old door.

I have no idea what is up and they are not forth coming with more information. I asked the plant manager who called to get this done what is holding the door shut now? He did not know. I was not sure what was going on at this juncture. Lots of work on Monday, so buzzed out of here on the call list. On the way out to the job, 30 miles away, I realized I did not have a level with me.

NOW if the exit device is already on the door, I don't need to install it and there fore no level, but what is holding the door? What exactly do they need? Ya well, take no chances, a pocket level is about five bux, so stop at a hardware store on my way out and pick one up. There are two hardware stores along the highway going west. DO I stop at the closer one, or the one in the town where the job is?

Hopped off the freeway at the first one. AND when I got into the parking lot a white van buzzed me. It turned out he was a real estate service firm. Read that property maintenance company, and he was wandering if I was a locksmith.... LIKE the truck is lettered .... DO I have one of these? Offering a Schlage A line rose anchor plate. I wasn't sure, I have tons of AL parts, and this is an A line rose anchor plate. (knob) Dug thru the can of odd parts, and found him one.

Well it was and it was not what he wanted. He had a much larger rose than would fit on that A line unit. THEN he asks, do you have any LSDA?

You got to be kidding me! LSDA is US in the Kettle Moraine! So what exactly did he want? A L100 storeroom function in US 3. Like this? I asked as I pulled one from the cabinet. We went inside the hardware store and completed the sale, and I gave him a couple of my cards.

Seems he had used several other so called smiths over the past few months but they all went under or just evaporated. Since we had been in the area since 1972, I assured him we would be here forever. Got my level, and moved on.

Bakery job turned out to be a Simplex 2000, which I already knew, and the plant had installed the new door and had put the Von Duprine 22 EO on the door. That was what was holding it. Now they wanted me to take the old one off the old door, and install it on the new one. They don't have the keys to get the 8 2000's off the doors, I DO.

Transferred the 2000, and the handle on the outside, and this job was done. Now they can get back in over by the rail siding where they unload the hopper cars into the silos.

Up shot? I could have stopped at either hardware store, or not. I was not sure what this job entailed. SO picking this particular one to stop at made me a $85.00 sale, off the wagon and perhaps a new client. Fate or Kismet occasionally smiles on you and gives you a present.

SInifar

[GWiens2001]

Nice when you unexpectedly make money. Congrats.

Gordon

[cledry]

Why did you need a level again?

[billdeserthills]

Did You even ever buy a level?

[Sinifar]

Why did you need a level again?

So how do you know when the exit device is "level" or do you just eye ball the thing and hope it looks okay?

The level is in the same case as the Sawzall. Since this was an existing job, I never thought of taking it along, as I would not have to cut the 22 to fit the door. Therefore, I did not have the Sawzall in the truck. PART 2 -- SINCE this was some kind of rework, as in taking the existing off the old door and installing it on the new one, I was not sure if the plant had installed the 22 or not. AS I had asked Joel on the phone, WHAT was holding the new door shut? Since he did not know, it could have been hung, in the new frame, the door closed and being held shut with a pallet of something.

In that case I would have had to totally reworked the VDP 22. Hence needing a level.

SINCE when I got there the VDP 22 was already on the door, all I had to do was to cut the Simplex 2000 in. Which meant layout the thru hole, then position the back plate so it was on "center" and then install the rest of the Simplex. Then remount the pull handle on the outside.

Ya I did buy a Johnson pocket level, and I am now carrying this thing with me all the time. My list of pocket tolls is getting bigger all the time. One of these days I should find some kind of holster for the belt in which to stuff the now growing 6 tools I carry. // Pocket LED flashlight / Automatic center punch / Magnet on a long "stick" which is great for retrieving stuff which just had to roll under a piano / Lockmaster pen set of lock picks - one never knows when they will need something done, and my main set is in the "work kit" / 1/8" screwdriver / and now a level. I also carry a WD 40 to go, just for those quick fix it things where all it needs is a shot of something to make it slide better, my card case with both a Schlage and IC A2 key decode plate in it / calculator / notebook / combo pen - Black - red ink - pencil. Now you know what I haul around every day with me.

Sinifar

[billdeserthills]

I just use a small case with a pocket clip like EMT's carry. It holds those few items I need repeatedly, but there is no level in my case