Entry 12

Last night I ended up spending more than half the night trying to open the pistol safe. I first tried to pry it open and looked for ways to take it apart with the tools I had but met with no success. I then tried to pick the lock. I did not have any of the tools for lockpicking so I had to rely on some paperclips. Years ago a friend had discussed lockpicking with me and it was all I knew about it. Based on what I remembered, I put pressure on the cylinder where the key went with a small screwdriver and then used the paperclip to push up the pins inside the lock. It really seemed like it should be simple but three hours after I started trying to pick the lock I had little to show for it. I had managed to get a few pins to stick up, but never more than two at any one time. It was so frustrating, time and time again I would start over and still never get the third pin in place. At one point I was pushing so hard on the lock that when I slipped I jabbed my knee with the screwdriver and drew blood. Finally, I was too tired to keep going and fell asleep.

I slept well after the sun came up since I had stayed up trying to open the safe. When I finally got out of bed I tried to open the lock a handful more times and decided to do something else with the day. When I had stabbed myself with the screwdriver I really wished I had been working on a desk rather then my lap. My computer desk was too flimsy to be used for much and I could not use the kitchen counter at night. The desk in my neighbor's apartment would have been a perfect place to work on the lock and any other projects I had. The problem was it did not fit through the hole in the wall.

I needed to cut out a stud for the desk to fit since there seemed to be no way to break down the desk without destroying it. When I first cut the hole through the wall I was very worried I could somehow weaken the wall. I had avoided enlarging the hole width-wise fearing it could collapse the wall. After some time examining the wall and thinking about it, the odds that removing one stud would bring down a wall seemed pretty small. For there to be any risk of the wall collapsing it would have to be built so weak even a small earthquake would have already knocked it down. I grabbed the wood saw from my recently expanded tool collection and began to cut through the stud. When the first cut was made the saw slid out without getting stuck so there was no weight on the stud and the whole wall seemed just as strong as before. I finished removing the stud and as far as I could tell the wall seems perfectly fine other then the hole through it.

Once I had managed to get the desk into my bedroom I spent awhile organizing the tools and the rest of the stuff I had stored in my room. I put some of the tools and other things from the pile I had originally made into the desk. The tools which seemed most important to be able to get at quickly I kept on the love seat. The extra wood I had stacked in the corner out of the way. Once I had finished organizing the room it was already time to think about moving into the bedroom for the evening.

As I was preparing some food I could not help but wish there was something to do about the garbage. By now I had a couple of bags of empty containers and spoiled food sitting in the kitchen. No matter how well I tied the bags shut they still seemed to smell. I was considering throwing them outside when I realized I could put it in the other apartment. I could simply move anything I might want out of the bedroom and leave the trash there with the door shut. I simply moved everything left in his bedroom into the front room and then moved the trash bags in. After a few minutes the smell in the kitchen was already fading away. There was enough room for months and months of trash in the other apartment so I would no longer have to keep it in mine or take the risk of putting it outside.

I took my food into the bedroom and started back at the lock. With a desk it is a bit easier to work on the lock although so far I have not had better luck. I really wish I could understand what I am doing wrong. All that stands between me and a better weapon is this stupid lock.