Of Whispers
During my time as DCPO, I worked on the ship's doors. The doors were simple creatures, and they were easy to understand and to fix. This was good, because so many previous generations of DCPO had neglected them, and they were in a poor state. I fixed them, because I don't believe in doing half-assed work.
This led to people on ship noticing that the maintenance was getting done. As one chief said, "I know when he has worked on a door, because it works and operates smoothly." I earned the accolade "Door Whisperer," and even now, though I am no longer in the realm of DCPOs, they still come to me for advice when they find one broken.
Recently, the ship did a lock rotation. This is when all the high-security padlocks are taken off their stations and shuffled around, so as to confuse the enemy. Outside locks are brought inside, inside locks are thrown out into the cold, and everyone tries to figure out what keys they need now.
During this rotation, it was discovered that seven of these locks did not work right. In most cases, it would take a lot of persuasion to get the key to turn the lock. In a few, the key wouldn't turn at all. After eavesdropping on the appropriate conversation, I asked if I could take a look at these locks. My chief agreed, and so I took them apart.
Now, I was a locksmith before the Navy, so this wasn't anything new to me. I disassembled the lock cylinders and discovered that, in every case, at least one pin had rusted in place. Without the appropriate tools or replacement parts, I had to make do with what was given me, because these locks had to remain high-security.
Locks are simple creatures, so it wasn't hard. After repairing the locks in my division, I repaired two others from another. The people there were astounded that I was able to take the lock apart without the use of the maintenance key, which they believed was a required tool to do so. I laughed it off, playing into with, "You're right. You can't. I can."
The next day, someone came up to me and said, "Hey. We're having trouble getting the lock onto the torpedo magazine, and I was told to get you because you're some kind of lock whisperer."
I wonder if I should start speaking really quietly.
This led to people on ship noticing that the maintenance was getting done. As one chief said, "I know when he has worked on a door, because it works and operates smoothly." I earned the accolade "Door Whisperer," and even now, though I am no longer in the realm of DCPOs, they still come to me for advice when they find one broken.
Recently, the ship did a lock rotation. This is when all the high-security padlocks are taken off their stations and shuffled around, so as to confuse the enemy. Outside locks are brought inside, inside locks are thrown out into the cold, and everyone tries to figure out what keys they need now.
During this rotation, it was discovered that seven of these locks did not work right. In most cases, it would take a lot of persuasion to get the key to turn the lock. In a few, the key wouldn't turn at all. After eavesdropping on the appropriate conversation, I asked if I could take a look at these locks. My chief agreed, and so I took them apart.
Now, I was a locksmith before the Navy, so this wasn't anything new to me. I disassembled the lock cylinders and discovered that, in every case, at least one pin had rusted in place. Without the appropriate tools or replacement parts, I had to make do with what was given me, because these locks had to remain high-security.
Locks are simple creatures, so it wasn't hard. After repairing the locks in my division, I repaired two others from another. The people there were astounded that I was able to take the lock apart without the use of the maintenance key, which they believed was a required tool to do so. I laughed it off, playing into with, "You're right. You can't. I can."
The next day, someone came up to me and said, "Hey. We're having trouble getting the lock onto the torpedo magazine, and I was told to get you because you're some kind of lock whisperer."
I wonder if I should start speaking really quietly.