driver's side lock broken, kind of

2001 civic coupe DX (no power anything)

one day i went to unlock my driver's side door and it was like i was using the wrong key or something, because it didn't even one degree.

symptoms which lasted three days:
key would not turn at all
the manual flip up switch is hard to pull up (seems stick)

i had speakers installed today and the guy didn't know what i was talking about when i asked him if he notice anything weird with the lock when the door panel was off. he said it worked fine for him. i went to my car and what do you know, the key works again.

the key works now but the inside switch is still a little sticky. also, when unlocking with key, the driver's side lock doesn't unlock as smoothly as the passanger's. it feels like the key is catching on something

any ideas what the problem could be? any quick fix ideas or possible solutions? everyone i've talked to about it so far has mentions something about tumblers...?