Today I received the coolest, most thoughtful gift. Twice.

My day started out when a friend traveled from far far away, and dropped by to bring me a package on behalf of @anyiaAnyia, queer girl ๐Ÿณ๏ธโ€โšง๏ธ๐Ÿณ๏ธโ€๐ŸŒˆ, whom they had just visited.

It was a beautiful *handmade* puzzle box, with three interesting locks built into it, and a *four-page* letter of appreciationโ€”the amount of effort they put into making me feel special is extraordinary ๐Ÿฅฐ

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Then, a couple hours later, a package arrived from my girlfriend. Inside were two lever locks. One from the 1830s, and one from the 1920s that is stamped with "Mastodon" ๐Ÿฅฐ The 4-lever lock is now the oldest I'm my collection, and the Mastodon lock is the first 8-lever lock in my collection.

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And finally, a couple hours after the package arrived from my girlfriend, I got to meet a new friend from Mastodon in person for the first timeโ€”which was its own present ๐Ÿฅฐ

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So today I got to add five unique new locks, several good memories, and a new friend to my collections.

It was a good frickin' day ๐Ÿ’

The top of a red leather-covered puzzlebox with an envelope taped to it that reads "Dear Alice (readme.txt)".The front of the handmade red puzzlebox, showing three locks built into it.

On the left is a circular metal plate with a small hole in the center and a red dot below the hole. On the right is another circular metal plate with a small brass cross-shaped opening in the center and a round swivel cover. The middle lock is 3D-printed and looks like an ovaloid with a cutout that looks like the side view of a partially opened laptop with two stubby legs under it...or maybe a vampire's nose with little square nostrils under it.A 65mm 4-lever padlock from the 1800s. Despite looking older than dirt, it works *perfectly*.An 8-lever padlock from the early 1900s. It's stamped with "Eagle Lock Co. Terryville Conn USA" along the shackle and the word "MASTODON" is stamped into the metal in big, curved letters across the body.

@anyiaAnyia, queer girl ๐Ÿณ๏ธโ€โšง๏ธ๐Ÿณ๏ธโ€๐ŸŒˆ pop! That middle lock was really interesting to pick, and holy shit that key!

I ended up using a long flat windshield wiper insert to slide under the far end of the lid, reach across, and poke the levers from the side while using a bent bike spoke to lift the lid slightly so I could make the levers bind.

The opened puzzlebox, full of goodies, including a slate coaster with my profile photo and the caption "#1 Pick". The keybox is in frame, still taped shut, and the letter is in frame as well.
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