Re: Spot on description of acess control purgatory.
If the door strikes are on the outside, then a decent screwdriver works as a card substitute. Never really understood why people do that on 'secure' doors other than it's easier than making the doors open outwards.
Best purgatory was a site where doors had an video intercom connected to the NOC, and they controlled entry. What you had to do to gain entry depended on who was on shift, and how bored they were.