Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Locked in // Encerrada


La versión en español está después de la versión en inglés.

A few weekends ago I took care of Trixie the dog. Her owners (aka my friends) were traveling and needed someone to take stay in the apartment with her for a few days. The family had moved to a new apartment a few days earlier and sauce there were boxes filed in every room. In addition, my friend let me know that the landlady needed to repair a few things, so the apartment didn't have any hot water and one of the sinks didn't work.

The first evening, Trixie and I took a walk, had dinner, and then went to bed. After about an hour, I got up because she wiggled too much. Without turning on the light, I put her out of the room and shut the door. Right away, I realized that the door was shut but it didn't have a door knob on my side. Thus I found myself locked in the bedroom at 1 am.

I was tired and couldn't think very clearly. I needed advice, so I called my friend R. in the US because he's a bit of a MacGyver and can fix almost anything. I explained my problem and luckily he didn't laugh. 

    "I'm locked in. This door only has a door knob on the other side." 
    "Okay, do you have any tools in the room?"
    "No."
    "Scissors?" 
    "I'm staying in a kids room. I have Legos, stuffed animals, and a few pieces of clothing." 
    "Can you insert a pen where the knob should be and use that to turn the latch?"
    "Wait... I have a pen but it won't turn anything." 
    "Do you have a hardback book? Maybe you can use that to grip the post of the doorknob?"
     "Hmmm... That didn't work."
     "Is there a wire coat hanger? Sometimes you can slide that between the door and the gym and release the latch." 
    "Hang on... No, but there's a wooden coat hanger with a metal hook... Yeah that worked! I'm free!"

Throughout the following day, I couldn't stop thinking how great it was to not be locked in a bedroom. 

(And many, many thanks to my friend R!)

-------
El fin de semana pasado cuidé a mi amiga la perrita Trixie. Sus dueños (alias mis amigos) viajaron y alguien necesitó quedarse en el piso con Trixie por algunos días. La familia se había mudado a un nuevo piso pocos días antes y por eso había un montón de cajas en cada habitación. Además, mi amigo me avisó de que la propietaria necesitaba reparar algunas cosas, por ejemplo, el piso no tenía agua caliente y un lavabo no funcionaba.

Mi primera noche, Trixie y yo dimos un paseo y cenamos. Después, fuimos a dormir. Hace una hora, me levanté porque la perra se movía demasiado. Sin encender la luz, puse a la perrita fuera del dormitorio y cerré la puerta. Inmediatamente, me di cuenta de que la puerta estaba cerrada pero no tenía pomo. Estaba encerrada en un dormitorio, a la una de la madrugada.

Estaba cansada y no pude pensar claramente. Necesitaba un consejo, y por eso llamé a un amigo que estaba en los Estados Unidos que es un MacGyver. Le expliqué mi problema y afortunadamente no se rió.
  • -Estoy encerrada. La puerta sólo tiene el pomo en el otro lado.
  • -¿Pues, hay algunas herramientas en la habitación?
  • -No.
  • -¿Tijeras?
  • -Estoy durmiendo en el dormitorio de un niño. Tengo Legos, peluches y alguna prena de ropa.
  • -¿Puedes usar un bolígrafo en el agujero donde va el cuadradillo para girar el pomo?
  • -Espera… Tengo un bolígrafo, pero no puedo girar el pomo.
  • -¿Tienes un libro de tapa dura? ¿Quizás puede usarlo como alicantes para agarrar el poste?
  • -Vale… No funciona.
  • -¿Hay una percha de alambre? Tal vez pueda deslizarlo entre la puerta y la jamba y soltar el pestillo.
  • -Pres… No, pero hay una percha de madera con un gancho de alambre… ¡Sí, funciona! ¡Estoy libre!
Durante el día siguiente, no dejé de pensar, ¡qué bien no esté encerrada en un dormitorio!

(Además, ¡muchas, muchas gracias a mi amigo R!)

6 comments:

adventures and misadventures abroad said...

I can totally commiserate with being locked in a room. At least you had your phone and were able to call the right person to help you!

de-I said...

I am not sure I would ask anyone to stay in my new apartment with no hot water, minimal working sinks, doors without handles, etc. But that's just me.

How cool is our modern world that you can call someone a quarter of the way around the globe to get the help you need. AND how cool is it you have a network you can call upon when in need.

Renee Michelle Goertzen said...

I had forgotten about that, Aunt G! It must have been far more difficult for you without a phone.

Renee Michelle Goertzen said...

Uncle de-I, to be fair, when they asked me to care for the dog, they didn't know they'd be in a new apartment. And the lack of hot water was a last-minute surprise. But I'm a camper so that part didn't scare me!
And you are so right about the usefulness of having friends to call on!

alexis said...

and thank goodness for time differences - I guess your friend R was in the US, so 1am was a great time to call!

A's Mum said...

Where would we be without friends?