Trapped!

Okay, maybe "trapped" is a bit dramatic. But when your day starts like mine did on this Tuesday, being a little dramatic must be forgiven.

So. There I was. Showered, dressed, e-mail checked, coffee ingested. On my way out the door. Hit the garage door opener button. The door didn't move a centimeter, just groaned and tried to reverse. I've had trouble with the sensors before and, not having time for this and already being about ten minutes behind schedule, I pulled the release cord to open the door manually. I grabbed the bottom of the door and. . . . . after sucking my spleen back into my body, realized that my five-hundred pound solid-wood four-panel door was no longer attached to it's springs! In fact the cables were hanging off of either side, still intact.

Six A.M. is not my best thinking part of the day, particular when thrown a curveball like this when I'm already late. Somehow I had to free both of our vehicles from their new prison, before my wife was late to work and before I, although having a more flexible schedule, wound up working til 7 or 8 P.M. Being able to nudge this monstrosity off the ground an inch or two for a second or two was all that could manage. So I went to work with what materials I had at hand. Fortunately, I always have three or four projects going all at once around here, and raw materials were fairly easy to find.

I wedged a two-by-four under the middle of the door, then pried the door upwards with another, giving me room to add another board on top of the first one. I continued this slow process until I had enough room to get my floor-jack under the door. Now it will get easier, I thought. The jack only has about a 6" lift, so I soon had to go search for something low enough and strong enough to support it and increase my range of lift. I pulled a couple of old wooden ammo crates from the basement (Not what you may think, I got 'em cheap at Big Lots years ago. They're GREAT for storage) and slowly began my dangerous tower of lumber.

It's now getting close to 7 A.M. and i am freaking bad. Understand that I live and die by my watch. Time is everything in my line of work. I had to saw up several two-by-fours from my basement finishing project to keep bracing the door as I slowly raised it from it's berth. About three-quarters of the way into this, my neighbor walked over and offered his assistance. Together we pushed the door the rest of the way up into the track, and locked it in place with large screwdrivers in each rail. By now, I was ready for a large screwdriver myself!

Okay. 7:15- Got both vehicles out. I'm now an hour behind, but Jody and the kids will be on time. Wait. I don't really want to leave my garage open all day. (Okay, so I probably could out here, but I'm a very security-minded sorta guy, and it would have gnawed at me all day long!) So began the process in reverse, a little faster, a little sloppier, but still wary and respectful of the massive weight that I was messing with. At one foot off the floor, I kicked the jack out, and called it done.

7:40- Now enroute to work. Called to explain my situation and request help with my workload. No help available. Busiest day we've seen in over two months, and totally out of nowhere. Great. And then everything else came in late this morning as well. I actually made it home before 6 P.M., so I busted my ass (not to mention breaking it messing with that door for an hour) and "got 'er done". (whew)

8:05 P.M.- Done venting about this. Overhead Door replaced the springs that apparently broke last night during their last usage around 6 P.M. and I'm $200 poorer. From now on, I think I'll check the damned door every night so I dont have to ever go through this in the A.M. again. Hope you enjoyed my misery; we all know how it loves company and all. And hopefully your day was more enjoyable.