Breakin' the law...

Tonight, I commited an illegal act... I don't think my fiance is going to press charges though.

At this time, I'd like to direct your attention to Exhibit A: Keys locked in ignition.

Upon realizing that the keys were stuck inside, we had a few options. We could've drove to her house for her spare key, but she lives 2 hours away from me. Not very practical. We could've called AAA and had them send out someone to help, but that wouldn't have been fun. We decided to take the third approach - MacGyver style.

At this time, please direct your attention to Exhibits B and C - the FlySwatter-Coat Hanger-Duct Tape approach.

We didn't meet with much success in the above approach. While the FlySwatter was able to get wedged inside the door, it was plastic and didn't provide prying leverage. The duct tape on the end of the coat hanger wasn't working out either - it wasn't as sticky as we hoped it would be, and we had a rough time trying to pull the door lock up with it.

At this point, we needed to break out the real tools. Enter two pairs of pliers. There was enough room to wedge the end of the pliers in the door and provide enough clearance and room to work for the hanger approach again.

Note the big wad of duct tape on the end of the hanger. This approach was not met with success either.

What you don't see pictured is the approach that worked - cooking tongs and a yard stick, in combination with a bent hanger. The tongs provided excellent leverage and enough room to get both the yard stick and the hanger inside the door. By pressing the yard stick and the hanger together, we were able to pull the door lock up. Success!

The only things harmed in breaking into this '98 Toyota Corolla are pictured below. We lost a good yard stick, the tongs busted clear off, the flyswatter head snapped off, a coat hanger was mangled, and some precious duct tape was wasted.

.... a small price to pay for an entertaining Friday night.