Expert Locksmith Advice

Locksmith Resolutions For 2020

As we say farewell to 2019 and welcome in 2020 it’s worth taking a second to calmly reflect on the passing of time. Before shrieking “TWENTY TWENTY!? How the blazes did we get here? It was only 1987 a few minutes ago.. make it stop. MAKE IT STOP, no, don’t lock me up again…” and then escaping into the woods, a blubbering mess. But maybe that’s just me.

Now that we’re further ahead than the original Blade Runner was set, and far beyond how far they travelled to in Back to the Future, science fiction would have us believe that we should all be jetting around on flying skateboards with our android-human hybrid pals. We may have to accept we face a touch of disappointment on that score but hey, at least we have the ability to play Candy Crush no matter where we are in the world. 

As any opportunist gravy thief knows, the turn of the year is an excellent time to take stock. And also to look forward to the year ahead, perhaps making a resolution or two. Resolutions are always a tricky beast – make them too difficult like resolving to solve climate change in 2020 and you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. But going the other way and making them too easy, like resolving to eat a tube of fruit pastilles per day, and where’s the challenge in that? 

So if you’re struggling to strike the right balance with your resolutions, fear not, for I am here to provide some suggestions. And whilst you might suspect they’ll all be around the subject of making your house more secure, I’m going to surprise you and say they’re not. Nah, only kidding, they are really. But they ARE useful, so here we go. 

Rotherham Upvc Door Handle Advice

Right, it’s not long until Christmas, and I’ll let you into a secret. Sometimes I try to compose blogs that are relevant to the time of year – you may remember I’ve done specific Christmas blogs the last few years, and sometimes I already have a subject in mind, and just try to crowbar in a reference to make it seem as if it’s relevant to the time of year. See if you can spot which one I’m doing today. 

Christmas is all about the Messiah, agreed? Jesus, and the wise men, and the stable and that. A child is born, and all that jazz. Well, who wrote a famous oratorio called Messiah? That’s right, it was Handel.  In 1741, if you want to be precise. And if we transpose the last 2 letters of Handel’s name, we get Handle. Which brings us to the subject of today’s blog – handles. Seamless see! (Yes, it’s the second kind of blog today)

Rotherham Locksmith Advice

I think you’d agree that it’s a bit of a weird time at the moment, making it difficult to keep track of what’s what. As governments rise and fall and sea levels rise and…well, rise; as the truth becomes ever harder to uncover, and the future of the country is uncertain, sometimes it’s worth just taking a deep breath, stepping back, and focussing on what really matters….

Which obviously is home security… what else? All too often in this business, we can get caught up in the minutiae of the details surrounding security systems, the intricacies of the latest locks, and any minor changes in trends and methods of break-ins. Once in a while though, it’s important to take that step back and look at the irrefutable pillars of home security, just as a reminder and in case any of them have slipped by the wayside whilst distracted by the little things. Here, I’ll cover four crucial points of which everyone should be aware to best protect their house.

Where Do Burglars Look In The House

Now I don’t normally have much time for burglars. To be honest, as a locksmith, they are my nemesis. The Lex Luther to my Superman, the Riddler to my Joker, the Donald Trump to my reasonable human being. As such, I don’t tend to pay much heed of what they say. 

However, for every rule there is an exception. And that exception was a recent report I came across, commissioned by John Lewis insurance. This report, carried out in conjunction with an offender rehabilitation agency, interviewed a number of reformed offenders for the purpose of finding out the behaviour pattern of burglars, most notably the places they would target when breaking into a property.  This then informed the recommendations of the report when it came to the best places for householders to keep their valuables to help protect them.

Locks Within Religion

Easter is on the horizon, and along with it a reminder of what can happen if you don’t fit proper locks to giant rocks – Jesus really did make the whole profession look bad on that day - but I think we’ve just about recovered. Besides, if the Romans had secured the services of a professional, accredited locksmith, who knows how different the Easter story would be. 

But in an attempt to stay the right side of blasphemy, today I’ll look at the role locks and keys have played within religion and superstition down the years. Because I know that’s what you come to this blog for – a lock-related history lesson. 

Rotherham Locksmith Spring Security Advice

Well, hello there and a belated happy 2019 to you. I’d like to say I’d been doing something exciting, and that’s the reason for my brief absence from these pages but that would be a lie. Work, winter and life took over for the last two and a half months. But now spring is on the horizon and with it come all sort of, well… springy arrivals like warmer weather, new-born lambs, and…err… new things to look out for when it comes to home security. Much as I’m all across the subject of birthing lambs, it’s more the latter subject that I’ll be concerned about today – a look at how to keep safe as the warmer weather arrives.

Xmas Locksmith Tips Rotherham

And so this is Christmas. No, really it is. Despite all assurances after last year that it wouldn't happen again, it's crept up on us once more. But before we can put our feet up for day or two and try and forget anything to do with work, politics, or the continued appeal of Mrs Brown's Boys, I best I'd better pen down something vaguely related to my job. As it's Christmas, and the radio is full to bursting with all the Christmas hits, why don't we go a bit tenuous and explain the connection that many festive songs  have with the art of locksmithery.

Know The Difference With Your Cylinder Locks

You’re probably seen the John Lewis advert by now and, even if not, you can’t have escaped at least knowing about it. It features Elton John and travels back in time to see how all his success can, at least in part, be traced back to when he was given a gift of a piano as a child. Now you may not know, but this wasn’t the first draft of this advert because originally it was an advert created by myself, and this is how it unfolded.

Security At Holloween

Why did the skeleton not want to go to the party?

Because he had no body to go with.

There you go, that’s my Halloween joke, you’re welcome. It could have been far worse, believe me. But yes, it’s that time of year. The shops are full of monster costumes, the pumpkins are on display in the marketplace, and the town centre is occupied by zombies wandering around aimlessly, oblivious to the living. Although in all honesty, I’m not sure that the latter point is totally related to the time of year.

Why you choose a local Rotherham locksmith

One of my favourite British films is the 1983 comedy drama, Local Hero, directed by Bill Forsyth. If you haven’t seen it, I can tell you that it’s delightfully charming, and depicts the conflict between a local community in a small Scottish village, and a major international oil company who want to buy up land for a refinery. It stars Burt Lancaster and Peter Capaldi, amongst others, and the soundtrack was written by Mark Knopfler – the main theme is used by Newcastle United at every home game when the teams run out onto the pitch. 

I was watching the film again recently and it got me thinking about the representation of the clash between local and international and how it relates to my own work. Now, shocking as it may seem, I’m not Burt Lancaster, so I’m firmly in the “local” category rather than the national or international conglomerate. However, I’m in an industry which encompasses both the local and the national. This can be illustrated through a simple web search for locksmiths. The results will include a mix of local and national results to choose from. Often the national firms will appear in the sponsored results because their marketing budgets are so much bigger. But which to choose?