October 22, 2006

• Yesterday, Dave locked himself out of his apartment.  He blamed it on me "messing up" his routine, and thus forgetting to reach over and grab the keys by the door as we left.  Strange thing was that the previous time that we left, I had asked him if he had his keys, and he did, but he also seemed a little pissed that I would think he would forget.  So I run home, and get my lock pick set.  I have about a 75% success rate on picking locks.  Sometimes it takes 5 minutes, sometimes it takes an hour.  The door isn't actually locked (doors in Italy don't need to be locked, but you will still need the key to open the door), so I only have to pick once, instead of 2 or 3 times.

  The door fell squarely into the other 25%.  I pretty much gave up after 15 minutes of so.  THe heckling was getting annoying, too.  Then we try to push the door.  The door is a double door, meaning that the primary door is the one that locks, and the other one is latched so that it holds closed at the floor and the ceiling, and Dave didn't close it at the ceiling.  We try to just shove the door, and maybe create a gap that will open the door.  Then we try to just shove at the bottom to see if we can get at the latch on the inside.  That failed too.  Dave entertains the idea of making a hole in the door to reach through and open it.  He would then have to put us a "Happy Halloween" sign to cover it up, and make up a story about someone else breaking it.  Over time, he would put up new signs, like "Merry Christmas," "Happy New Year," etc., until he fixed the door.  He decides against it since he doesn't want tb break his hand on the door, and we can't find something else to put through it.

  Finally, Dave decides that he's had it, and wants to knock the door open.  He backs up 8 feet, takes a running start, and hits the door with his shoulder.  There's a loud noise, and ....

  The door has stopped Dave.  We all stop moving to see if it has aroused suspicion with the neighbors.  After two minutes, he tried another running start and tried to kick the door open.  Fails again.  He decides to ask me to take a try.  Time for that taijutsu to come out and play.  I decide that unlike Dave, I don't need a running start.  All I would use is a stomp kick, also known as a push kick.  Basically, you go from standing, then bring your leg up so that you knee comes to your chest.  Then you kick forward, driving your heel into your target.  It's a very short range and powerful kick.

  So I stand there, and line up my target, since I want to kick exactly where the lock is, and not put my feet through a weaker part of the door.  Dave thinks I'm going to fail, probably because I'm not trying to run at it like him.  Meanwhile, I line it up once, line it up twice, and....

  KICK THE DOOR WIDE OPEN.  And then I walk in quickly, before the neighbors look out their doors.  I am promptly followed by Dave and one of our friends.  And the door is then closed behind us.  When I kicked the door in, I definitely saw some plaster falling from the ceiling.  I also heard other stuff hit the floor:
  

  That is the small latch piece that was keeping the door closed.  Dave was very happy that this was the only damage, because now he wouldn't have to make up some lie about why the door was destroyed.  However, he now has to lock the door so that someone can't just push their way in.

  Black 6, out.

  • 6:22 am
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