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OK, picture the scene:
I walk down the corridore to my office, open the door... and the handle
snaps off in my hand.
Yes, you heard me correctly. The handle on the door of my office fell off.
Here's the rub: My door never used to shut properly. The latch didn't
drop into the slot in the door frame, so you could actually open the
door without turning the handle.
But they fixed that on Tuesday. So now you actually need to turn the
handle or the door won't open. (I mean, you turn the handle
instinctively anyway. But now it's mandatory.) The net result is that,
thanks to the builders fixing my door, I am now locked out of my office.
Stop and think about that for a moment: I'm locked out of my office. I
have nowhere to sit. No PC to use. Can't get at any of my paperwork,
tools or spare parts. I'm homeless.
So I wandered into the tearoom. At was at this point I realised I can't
actually have a cup of tea either - my cup is... in my office. (As is my
coat, although technically I'm unlikely to have need of that today.)
Everybody else seemed to think this state of affairs was both utterly
unbelievable and extremely amusing. I was less amused. (!!)
Anyway, by pure fluke, it turns out there is in fact a solution. I have
a key that opens the locked server room door. In the process of doing
this, I discovered that if you turn the key the wrong way, instead of
locking the door, it lifts the latch. And apparently my key is a "master
key" that opens several other doors as well. (Doesn't that mean all the
locks are identical??)
Once I figured out that the lock on *my* door rotates in reverse
direction [because the door opens the opposite way - WTF?], I was able
to get back inside. I wasn't going to bother with a cup of tea, but I
felt I needed it!
And now I've drunk the tea, a thought occurs to me: I am now sitting
inside my office, with a door that nobody except me can open. (Because
only I and two managers have any actual door keys.) So... basically
nobody can come into my office to pester me. I'm locked in, and nobody
can bother me! :-D :-D
Let the surfing begin!!!
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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On Fri, 20 Jun 2008 10:47:34 +0100, Invisible <voi### [at] dev null> wrote:
>I am now sitting
>inside my office, with a door that nobody except me can open.
So you are not operating "an open door policy" today? :)
--
Regards
Stephen
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Invisible <voi### [at] dev null> wrote:
> And apparently my key is a "master
> key" that opens several other doors as well. (Doesn't that mean all the
> locks are identical??)
No. Why would you think that?
--
- Warp
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>> And apparently my key is a "master
>> key" that opens several other doors as well. (Doesn't that mean all the
>> locks are identical??)
>
> No. Why would you think that?
Because any given key only opens locks of the exact same shape?
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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Stephen wrote:
> So you are not operating "an open door policy" today? :)
Oh God, that surely desurves a rimshot! ;-)
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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On Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:31:44 +0100, Invisible <voi### [at] dev null> wrote:
>Stephen wrote:
>
>> So you are not operating "an open door policy" today? :)
>
>Oh God, that surely desurves a rimshot! ;-)
<g>
--
Regards
Stephen
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On Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:31:23 +0100, Invisible <voi### [at] dev null> wrote:
>>> And apparently my key is a "master
>>> key" that opens several other doors as well. (Doesn't that mean all the
>>> locks are identical??)
>>
>> No. Why would you think that?
>
>Because any given key only opens locks of the exact same shape?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_(lock)
--
Regards
Stephen
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>> No. Why would you think that?
>
> Because any given key only opens locks of the exact same shape?
Locks can be designed to be opened by two different keys (usually a unique
key and a master key common to several locks).
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scott wrote:
> Locks can be designed to be opened by two different keys (usually a
> unique key and a master key common to several locks).
Really? Hmm... sounds physically implausible to me, but OK.
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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On Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:46:07 +0100, Invisible <voi### [at] dev null> wrote:
>scott wrote:
>
>> Locks can be designed to be opened by two different keys (usually a
>> unique key and a master key common to several locks).
>
>Really? Hmm... sounds physically implausible to me, but OK.
That is because you don't know how a lock and key work. They are very
simple physical devices.
--
Regards
Stephen
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