Don't Procrastinate

Yes, I learned a valuable and expensive lesson today, but I need to rewind about two years for it to make sense. See, two years ago I managed to break my car's outside door handle on the passenger side door. It is just a piece of plastic, so, it was bound to break eventually. At some point, I bought a replacement door handle and put in in my glove box and never really thought much about it since. It did cross my mind that if the driver's side handle broke, I would be in a lot of trouble. Well, that is exactly what happened today. With two door handles broken, there is no way to get into the car. I tried to go in through the trunk, I thought for sure I could unlatch the seat from inside the trunk, but no, all I ended up doing was bending the seat. I ended up having to break a window to get in, there was no other option.

I removed all of the electronics from the car and I'll just leave the window open when it isn't raining. I have tested a method where I use some nylon cord tied around the inside door handle, with the other end sticking out of the car. I have one rigged up on the passenger side now and it tested well. I'll leave it in place, and on a rainy day, I'll rig one on the driver's side too, that way I'll have a backup. If that fails, I can remove the covering from the window that I broke and get in the way I got in the first time. The good news is that it should be fixed on Wednesday. The bad news is that it is going to cost about $550 for two door handles and a window to be replaced at the shop.