Had a similar thing happen last winter—my smart lock decided to randomly update firmware right when I got home from work. Stood there freezing for 15 minutes before finally remembering the spare key I'd taped under the mailbox months ago... tech's great, but backups are lifesavers.
Haha, your mailbox trick reminded me of my own "genius" backup plan. When I first installed my smart lock, I was so proud of myself for finally stepping into the future—no more fumbling with keys, right? Well, fast forward a few weeks later, and I'm standing outside in pouring rain because my phone battery died on the way home. No worries though, I'd cleverly hidden a spare key under a decorative rock by the porch. Except...turns out I'd moved that rock when planting flowers and completely forgot to put it back. Cue me digging through muddy flower beds in the dark like some desperate treasure hunter.
Eventually found it (covered in dirt and worms), but lesson learned: tech is awesome until it's not. Now I've got spare keys stashed everywhere—probably too many places, honestly. At this point, burglars would probably give up out of sheer confusion.
Your muddy flower bed adventure gave me flashbacks to my own "smart lock saga." A client convinced me to install one at home, and I thought, why not? Looked sleek, worked great—until the Wi-Fi went down during a neighborhood outage. Picture me awkwardly climbing through a half-open kitchen window, knocking over a potted plant and nearly faceplanting into the sink. Safe to say I've kept one old-school key handy ever since...tech convenience is great, but sometimes analog solutions save the day.
"Picture me awkwardly climbing through a half-open kitchen window, knocking over a potted plant and nearly faceplanting into the sink."
Lol, been there... except replace kitchen window with doggy door. Ever tried squeezing through one of those at midnight in pajamas? Analog keys FTW. Did your neighbors catch the show?
"Ever tried squeezing through one of those at midnight in pajamas?"
Haha, relatable. Had a client once who insisted on a fully automated smart lock system—no physical backup keys. Told them repeatedly it was risky, but they loved the sleek look. Fast forward two weeks, got a panicked call at 1 AM because their phone died and they couldn't get in. Ended up driving over with a spare charger just to get them inside.
Honestly, tech is great until it isn't. Your kitchen window escapade sounds rough, but hey, at least you didn't have to call someone out in the middle of the night. Silver linings, right?
