Gratitude Monday - Locking Down Gratitude Edition

As noted last week, the power door locks on my Ford Focus failed. I am grateful for a variety of reasons including what I wrote about putting money--energy--out to be used.
How things work fascinates me in general, and locks in specific . I learned how power door locks work and got to see inside the door panel before the work to replace the latch and actuator started.
Rainbow Ford gave me a good price on the work of their own volition.  I didn't ask and I don't ask for deals.  Negotiations bother me in the sense that it puts people in opposition with each trying to get the better of the other.
It serves in the short term, but not in the long term. I play the long game myself. It is more satisfying.
But back to my point. When I came in to pay the service manager was on lunch. The other fellow in service wasn't happy with the price as it was considerably higher than he thought it ought to be. I mentioned the price I've been quoted. He worked a bit and got it down to near that price.
The service manager came back, discussed matters with his co-worker, and then left to attend to another customer. The second fellow worked a bit again and I paid less than the original quote.
Good as that is, it is not the main target of my gratitude,
From what I saw in the door panel I was able to determine how a Slim Jim works. I hope I never need to use one, but I can now see in my mind what it does.
But best of all, by extrapolation I figured out how an old style car door lock could get stuck in the unopenable position and be easily fixed.
I refer to the type of handle that opened by pressing down a button in the handle and then pulling the door open. When this style of door is locked one pushes down the the lock and pushes in the button and then closes the door,
If one doesn't hold down the door button the lock inside stays up and looks unlocked, but the door won't open.
If happened once to a car we had ( I am sure I did it)  and stayed that way for about a month. I am sure dad fixed it himself. I always wondered how, but never got around to asking.
While I don't know for a fact how it was done, I can see in my mind how car door locks work now and I can back draft a procedure. It's enough for me, and for it I am grateful

Gratitude Monday -- A Lock on Gratitude

Friday morning I came home from a few errands to find myself stranded outside the house.
The back door lock broke as I turned the key. I heard a terrible clicking sound. The key would not budge past the quarter past the hour position. It needs to be at 20 past the hour to open.
Either the pins wore out or the spring gave up. I was not surprised. For the the past  few weeks the lock had to be started at the five minutes to the hour position to turn properly.
It was still an annoyance.

Off to the front door where the key turned as it should, but I was physically unable to turn the deadbolt. It's a characteristic of the deadbolts on our house in cold weather.
The neighbour who dug me out of the alley recently opened the front for me.  It took considerable effort on his part to turn the deadbolt.
I am grateful for his help.

My husband changed the lock yesterday. I am grateful he knows how to do this.
When we bought the new door lock assembly it had to be re-pinned to our keys. I got to watch as the woman at the store did this and it was fascinating.
I am grateful for this, and for her patience in doing the work for us.
I've seen the interior of pin and tumbler locks before, but not thoroughly gutted. She took everything apart, popped out the pins, and put in new ones.
I learned the numbers on the key are the code for the pins in the lock.
I can see in my mind how the lock works.
I've wondered. I've looked it up online, but seeing it in person is better and I am grateful.