Leaving my compound

 Just a quick post today to show you what it takes for me to get out of my compound if I want to go anywhere by car. I find the procedure rather tiring, so I usually take the car out only once a day. You will see how to get out in the pictures that follow. I took some videos so you could live the process in real time, but, after spending at least an hour waiting for them to upload, I found that they wouldn't play, so you'll have to imagine the time passing. 

There are three bolts to the gate.  One at the top:

One in the middle:

and one at the bottom:

The gates open outwards. The one on my left will stay open by itself, but the one on the right will not, so I have a big rock sitting just inside the gate that I use to hold it open for backing out or pulling in.

I back out and try to park the car out of the street. Usually that involves pulling forward to park in front of the gate of the house next door. At first that was okay, because it was empty, but the owner and his brothers are back in town, so I risk inconveniencing them.

Then I go back in through the gate and reverse the process: pick up the rock and put it where it belongs, pull the gates shut, and throw all the bolts. I always check to make sure that I can't push the gate open. I found out just a couple of weeks ago that the bottom and top bolts are only for the left panel (I should have figured that out before, but hadn't really thought about it.) So that means the middle bolt is all that is keeping the right door closed. The door handle that you see above the middle bolt does not lock. The two panels of the gate are not in line, so the lock on the right panel won't go into the hole on the left. Once I have tested the gate, I go out the pedestrian gate to the outside (a post on that is forthcoming), jump in my car, and head out.

If a man is in the street, he may come to try to help me with the gates. Although I appreciate the sentiment, I confess I wish they wouldn't. One reason is that I don't want them to know the situation of the locks that I mentioned above. The second reason is that I am never sure that there is not another agenda driving them. I have had someone help me and then ask for money. Not my favorite conversation.

On days when I go to school during the day and church in the evening, I have two options to avoid re-entering the compound. At first I would just leave the car at Hammer's and walk to my house until time for church. But now I occasionally will just pull right up to the gate and leave the car outside. 

I've never had a garage. Those of you that do--pause for a moment of appreciation when you push the button for your garage door opener! 

View videos of me opening the gate here.