(10-27-2013, 08:36 PM)Newt Wrote: I really wanted to share this. Because I didn't know I could do this until an hour ago and I can only share this with you guys because it's technically an illegal skill.
A friend of mine was locked out of his house. He knows I have a lockpicking set. Can I use it? Nope. I've never used it before. I bought it on a whim.
So he calls me up and is like "Dude, I know you never used that lockpicking set, but if there was every a time to learn, I'm stuck outside of my house and my room mates won't be home until 11:00 tonight." and so I was like "Yeah! Let's do it! No guarantees I'll unlock it though." so we agreed that if I couldn't do it, he'd come to my place until 11:00.
So I get there with my little set, and I start picking away. We looked up a How-To video on his cell phone, and then I kept trying. Finally, 25 minutes pass, and the door clicks open. We both like, freaked out. Jumped, screamed, shout. I called myself a gangster at least four times. "I AM A GOD DAMNED GANGSTER!" Yadda yadda.
Now I actually want to practice with this damned thing and get good with it.
Nicely done! I've actually dabbled in lock-picking myself and it's definitely an interesting skill to have. I'd just like to clarify a couple of things for you though. First, it's not actually outright illegal, at least not in most states (I don't know the laws for other countries). You can likely find out online whether or not it's illegal to possess picks but in most places, they're legal until you show intent to use them illegally, which you did not do. The owner of the lock you picked gave you explicit permission to pick it so you're in the clear there.
That being said, when it can be avoided, never pick a lock you rely on. Picking has the potential to damage or break the lock, even when done correctly, so if you're looking to practice, go to a locksmith and see if you can get some discarded cores or pick up a couple of padlocks to work with. In your case here, there wasn't really a choice and you likely didn't do any lasting damage since you only did it once but just keep this in mind if you do pick it up as hobby later.
(10-28-2013, 07:24 AM)tigerlily Wrote: The only slightly 'impressive' skill I can think of is that I can read music.
This does not seem over impressive until you meet someone that can't read music. Then it seems to be an amazing thing.
Maybe slightly more impressive is that I learnt to read music before I learnt to read English.
Emphasis mine.
I think that officially takes it out of the slightly category and moves it right on up to impressive! I learned to read music for piano early on (not sure if I could really still do it, definitely not quickly at least) but I certainly knew English before that.