• Location: Fernley, Nevada
• Mood: accomplished

Getting Out of the House...and Back Into It Again

One of the convenient things here at Fernley House was that the front door to the house and the back door to the garage both used the same key. However, the front door handle has been becoming increasingly balky over the past year or so, and it has been getting to the point that I was starting to get worried, because you had to fiddle with it a lot to get it to open from the inside. In an emergency, that could be deadly. So last night, Lisa and I went to Lowe's to shop for new handles. To our relief, not all of them were Made in China.



As it happens, the more ornate and fancy handles and knobs were all Chinese-made, but this relatively plain handle, labeled as "light industrial," was made in Mexico. We bought two of them, both keyed the same. Lisa also much prefers this handle style rather than a round door knob.

When we got home, Lisa made fairly short work of replacing both the failing front door knob (thereafter discarded because it's a wreck) and the garage door knob (retained in case we need a quick replacement because it's in better condition).

Something we didn't realize, but that makes these handles even better, is that you can't accidentally lock yourself out. If you open the door from the inside with the lock engaged, it not only opens, but unlocks itself automatically so you can get back inside. This means that if you have to exit quickly, you can do so without having to worry about the lock. This adds to our peace of mind.