Yale makes these slick keypad locks without any keyholes to speak of. I’m often thinking about how I’ll blast through one of these locks when it has failed and it’s on a customer’s only door. I almost had to play out this fantasy today when BOTH of the Yale keypad locks on my customer’s two doors failed at the same time.

Luckily, there was another way. On the back of the house there was a second-story window that had been left open. Also, the detached garage had an unlocked door, and inside there was a set of sturdy shelves that worked great as a ladder.

Lessons:

• Have at least one exterior door in your house that doesn’t rely solely on new technology for entry.
• Don’t leave ladders—or shelves, I guess—lying around outside your house.
• Lock all of your windows, even the ones upstairs.