I locked myself out tonight when doing laundry. This was the first time ever since Oct 2011 when I moved in to this apartment. I have two locks on my door. The top one is a deadbolt lock and the bottom is a knob. They share the same key. Normally, I kept the knob unlocked so when I left the apartment with the door came closing itself up, the door was kept unlocked until I manually locked the deadbolt.
Okay now, for more than two years, every time I went downstairs for laundry, I always carried the laundry basket and allowed the door to close behind me without carrying my keys. Tonight I did the same as usual. However, at the moment when the door closed, I was like .... shit!
Earlier today a guy called me, telling me that he came to my apartment to fix the heater. He got the key from the landlord.
Last week after I told the landlord that I was moving soon, the landlord came for inspection and took a set of my keys. When he took the keys, he tried on the locks and asked me why the knob was kept unlocked. I said "for my convenience." Right there, he told me he preferred both locks were locked when no one was in the apartment.
Alright fast-forward to this evening when I came home, I found both locks were locked. I used the same key to unlock both and opened the door. Only until the door closed behind me later tonight, did I realize that the knob may have been in the position of "automatic lock itself when the door closes itself." But the realization came totally too late!!! I locked myself out of my apartment.
How ironic! One week before I moved out I was locked out of the apartment. The first night when Superstar and I moved in (yes, more than two years ago), Superstar went out for taking dinner while I was unpacking. When he came back, he found out that he was locked out while I was locked in because the deadbolt was damaged. Unfortunately, the bolt was broken in pieces, being stuck inside the door frame. At that time, the knob was totally broken and dysfunctional. Superstar could not turn the key to move the bolt and thus unable to open the door, and I could not turn the switch from inside the apartment to open the door either. That was a Friday or Saturday night when no locksmith was working. Superstar worked magic and dismantled the lock, leaving a hole on the door. I gave him a hair pin and sticking tape, shedding some light through the hole with a flashlight. He did remove the bolt from the door frame. Oh my. I thought that was too exciting for the first night of moving in with my boyfriend. The next day, the landlord came and installed the current deadbolt and knob locks on my door.
Now I was locked out because of the stupid knob lock. With 10 degrees outside and with my indoor outfit, I went to the backyard, which was covered with deep snow, and I tried to reach high for the fire escape ladder. I was hoping to pull it down so that I could climb into my apartment. With my socks and no gloves, I stood on a wobbly chair with my wobbly legs and tried to reach as high as possible. I was a failure.
So I went upstairs, knocking doors of my neighbors, but no one was home. Who would be home on a Friday night? Then I went back to the backyard with a broom stick in the hope of reaching the hooks of the ladder. No use. But this time I noticed that my first-floor neighbor, a hair salon, was lighted. I locked her door. She was there! She helped me with a stool and a long swiping stick. At this moment I remembered that my rain boots were outside my door. I did not have to stand in snow with just socks. So I put on my boots, and the salon owner held the stool for me so that I could stand up straight and high with a great confidence. But when I looked up to the ladder, I wondered if it would fall down on me when I pulled. What if I could not handle the weight of the iron fire-escape ladder!? I was making myself insane.
Anyway I pulled and pulled. The ladder was fixed still there and not coming down! I was so frustrated. "Let's call the landlord," I said. I knew the salon owner had the landlord's number.
She made the call for me. The landlord said the technician who had inspected the heater earlier today was still in Hoboken. He could come over in 3 minutes. Oh thank you, whatever up there!
This whole drama lasted for about 45 minutes. I knew it because that was the time for my laundry to be done in the washing machine.
Oh I love the hair salon owner. She is a nice lady with a sincerely friendly manner and good taste in flower arrangement at her windows and our front yard. I will thank her once more before my move next weekend. Yes, I am moving out of Hoboken.
I came to Hoboken in the summer 2009, two months after I got the real job. I picked Hoboken because it was close to Manhattan, one PATH station away. In addition, PATH runs 24 hours. I picked an apartment on the first street because it was very close to PATH. However, the first couple nights proved how bad my decision was. My apartment was on top of a popular Irish pub with dancing music. My landlady owned both the pub and the apartment. For some lazy reason, I stayed there for two years before moving to the sixth street with Superstar. I have been a resident of Hoboken for more than 4 years now.
Last summer Superstar moved away for his PhD education. Since then I felt uneasy and wanted something for myself. I was almost angry at myself for not being able to change the current situation. When Superstar and Mama kept telling me to save money for the future, I wanted something for the present and not something forcing me to live for the future. I had a breakdown in front of Superstar's relatives: I yelled in front of them in a nice restaurant that I wanted to live for now, not for the future! Right there I knew I needed an immediate intervention by myself. I was driving myself crazy. No one could help me. As usual, I figured that I am the most important supporter for myself. Of course, this time Superstar provided his support, which I truly appreciated. I didn't tell Mama until I signed the lease.
I have wanted to live in Manhattan since 2001, when I started watching Sex and the City. Now I reached the age of the characters in Season 3. And I knew I am capable of financially supporting myself in Manhattan. I wanted to move in to the city now!
The motivation was strong and was ready to be realized. However, the final kick came from a series of events happening at the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014, all irrelevant to my life, but lives of people very close to my heart. A good friend failed yet again in conceiving a child. Another good friend's husband suddenly walked out on her around the time before their first anniversary. A coworker suddenly lost her husband in her arm in their home on my birthday.
And I was like... life is right now. I want to move to Manhattan now even if I am spending all my monthly income without saving as much as I was expected to. Superstar and Mama's expectation can be suffocating sometimes only because I do care about their opinions on how I run my life.
The weekend Superstar and I came back from Taiwan in early January, I looked for an apartment and found one both he and I like very much. I signed the lease two weeks ago. We are going to have a new home.
So, good-bye, dear Hoboken. 99% of the picture I took in Hoboken was at the riverside, looking over to Manhattan. Soon I am going to be in Manhattan, possibly looking over to Hoboken if I have a chance. I will miss the Art, Music, and Italian Festivals, the friendly city hall workers, the fireworks, the local restaurants, and the view at the river.
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