up and over
i marked one in the 'genius' box for myself yesterday when i went to make a copy of my gate key to put in a secret location, lest i lock myself out of my house. although i possess an extra key for the front door, it does me little good if i'm stuck outside the gate, especially since my windows are on the ground level and lack screens (and for this reason, the extra door key lives in a purse somewhere). in fact, the other day i stepped out and shut the locked door behind me, realizing upon it's click that i had left my keys inside on my bed... no matter, as i hoisted myself over the window sill enough to teeter-totter my reach to the keys and flop back out the window. no prob.
with my extra key from yesterday, i had thoughtfully placed it in a weather-proof container, and spent a good portion of the day determining on the best place to store it. in the meantime, however, it was stored in my car, and it remained there through today, when i reached my car, and realizing i had forgotten my keys in my house, discovered subsequently that my genius fell a little flat if i needed my keys to unlock my car to retrieve the spare key.
so once again, it was time to break in. the last time i had to maneuver my way past the gate was the day i moved into the joint. as i said adieu to the last of my mover-helpers, i turned around to remember the exact location of my keys sitting inside on a table. that time 'round, i used a combination of alley trashcans and an ivy-padded wall to go up and over. this time, however, since there were quite a few neighbors out, i decided to try a different (read: less public) approach. i walked to the other side of the garage to where a low fence provided a little coverage. what i had never realized from the view from my bedroom window of this fence, was that it was actually topped with barbed wire. huh. probably to prevent people hopping it, like i was about to. the fence came up to the top of the garage, and if i stood on the 2 inches of ledge on the wall the fence was built on to, the top of the garage came to my shoulder height.
quick aside... back in elementary school, they used to test our physical ability every year in a series of useless drills including chin-ups. i never married their logic of "if you ever get in danger, you should be able to pull yourself up" with the number of times i could (or could NOT, in my case) pull myself over that bar...
in an amazing feat of physical strength, flexibility, momentum, and dumb luck, i somehow was able to place one hand on the fence post, one hand on the roof to my right, swing my leg up and pull myself on to the roof of the garage, where it was a short drop to the ground, and a quick scurry to my apartment, where i had ingeniously left my door unlocked. i popped in, grabbed my keys, and the whole thing was done and over in 45 seconds... plus the 10 minutes or so it took to contemplate breaking in in the first place.
i think i'll go put that key somewhere, err, more useful now.
current mood: i'm all stealth ninja