Automobile Locks

The whirlwind of events of the past year appears to be finally calming to the point where I can return my attention to my hobby. Today, for the first time in several months, I was able to spend some time downstairs to work on the mess that I call my automobile lock collection. I was somewhat overwhelmed trying to re-organize some of the material. For almost a year now, my involvement has been spent strictly acquiring new items, with little thought (or time) spent on the actual inclusion or organization. In fact I found some items that I didn't even remember that I had acquired. It will take me some time to really get back into the swing of things, but little by little I will get it done. 

The Biddle Key

Clum Manufacturing produced automobile ignition switches with several different types of keys. One of the rarest keys produced was for the Biddle automobile. Although I have an ignition switch, the only key which I have is one that I made for the switch.The Biddle key has been the primary object of my ebay searches for the past several years. 

A few months ago, while searching ebay, I ran across several groups of keys which appeared to have been new old stock and were offered as buy-it-now. About an hour later I was thumbing through an old Keil key catalog and I saw the Keil version of the Biddle key (slightly different shaped key head). I immediately recognized it as being included in one of the key groupings on ebay which I had just been viewing. By the time I got back to ebay, the grouping was gone, obviously purchased already. What a major disappointment.

Last week I was surprised to find another grouping of new old stock keys on ebay, with not one, but two Biddle keys included. This time I was successful in obtaining them, though not cheaply. I received the keys in the mail today.

Today we removed the final items from Joyce's apartment... Completed cleaning it and filled all of the nail holes... She turned in her keys and is now an official resident of Pekin Court in Batavia....

                                                     Welcome Home

This has got to be one of the most confusing blogs to log into...  I have just spent the last 45 minutes trying to log in.... The problem that I now have is that I am not sure just what I did to get logged in...

Elsewhere in life, things are going well... Recently completed a trip in the motor home with Joyce, visiting Tim and William in Virginia, Joyce's son Tony and his family in North Carolina, and Angela and Erica (with the Pancake) in Pennsylvania... So I have met both of Joyce's children and Joyce has met all five of mine...

The trip did not go without some challenges. We were going to use the electric from Tim's house, but his electric service was knocked out our first night there.... While we were there, I locked the keys in the RV.... Was able to use a small screwdriver and hairpin to pick the lock....

Used the GPS to get us from North Carolina to Lancaster, PA... I knew we were going to drive by Washington, DC.... It wasn't until Joyce noticed the Washington Monument that I realized that we would be driving THROUGH it.... On Pennsylvania Avenue, even...

Our arrival in Lancaster came with a surprise... The car battery was dead... After pondering how I was going to solve that problem, Joyce suggested calling AAA... Now why couldn't I have thought of that? The dead battery was a result of my unfamiliarity with the light switch in the new Subaru... Will just have to remember to manually shut it off instead of using the automatic option (the key has to be in the Accessory position when towing the car)...

Joyce had the opportunity to drive the motor home on the trip back to Cincinnati... Drove it for about an hour on the highway... Even passed a truck with oversize load....