Are home security systems really worth the money we spend on them? The installation of our system was free a few years ago, as long as we committed to paying the monthly monitoring fee for two years. The two years have long since passed, and we still spend $46.00 every month for monitoring. My husband and I have often wondered, “Would the monitoring company really send the police to our home if the alarm sounded and they couldn’t get in touch with either one of us? Should we cancel and save the money?” Well, we recently learned the answer to these questions. In the process, we learned four things NOT to do when you have a home security system.
- DO NOT arm the alarm system, forget you have armed it; heck forget you even have it, and go out a different door. The alarm key pad is usually located next to the door you enter and exit most often. Ours is in our family room near the door that goes out to the garage. To get to the front door of the house you have to go up a flight of steps into the kitchen and living room. If it is armed and you open the front door, the alarm sounds. It is loud…loud enough to wake a dead person! We know this is a fact.
- DO NOT wake from a dead sleep first thing in the morning to let the cat out and forget to disarm the alarm before opening the back door. Our poor cat is afraid of everything, including the back door. He now waits at the top of the steps to see what happens when we open the door before he comes down to go out.
- DO NOT pop a helium balloon near the glass break when the alarm is armed. I did this the morning after my retirement party while I was cleaning up. Unless you want to get your blood rushing through your veins at terminal velocity and you are in the mood for a sprint down a flight of stairs, DO NOT DO IT. Who knew a popping balloon sounded like breaking glass?
- Finally, DO NOT go out the front door to water the lawn. What does that have to do with a home security system? Why, let me tell you.
The other evening, my husband did this very thing. When he went out a door we hardly ever use (the front door), he pulled it closed behind himself because the air conditioning was running. When he came back in, he came in through the garage.
Later that evening at bedtime, we armed the alarm and went upstairs to bed. At approximately 1:00 a.m., my cell phone rang waking me from a coma-like sleep. I answered it and there was no response from the caller. I hung up thinking kids took my number off the back of my car or from here, my blog, and they were making prank calls.
Twenty minutes later, it rang a second time again waking me from a cadaverous sleep.
“Huh-oh”, I mumbled.
“Hello. Is this the Cauler residence at (he said my address)?” the wide-awake voice at the other end asked.
“Oh crap! Now what?” I thought. You know no good news ever comes at 1:00 a.m. I immediately thought of my children. Were they okay?
“Yes, it is,” I replied a lot more coherent now.
“Is this Josie?” the voice asked.
Feeling a little suspicious and spooked, I hesitated a moment and thought of being a wise guy and saying, “Well, you know my cell phone number and you know my last name, why don’t you know my first name too?” but I thought better of it. “Yes,” I answered.
“This is officer so and so from the Colorado Springs Police Department and we are holding down your house. Can you tell me; are you inside your home? We got an alarm call from ADT. Are you in the house, and are you alone?”
Now I really felt alarmed! (No pun intended.) I never heard the alarm! “What? I am hanging up now, and I am calling the police!”
I got out of bed and looked out the bedroom window and sure enough, there was a police car parked in front of our house. What the…! With a little difficulty, I woke my husband, pulled my revolver from its hiding place and went out into the hallway. My husband followed. The light from several flashlights was jumping through my front door! What was going on? This was crazy and disturbing!
“I have a gun!” I shouted, “And I better see some badges when I get there!”
Sure enough, it WAS two police officers from the Colorado Springs Police Department. Apparently, we neglected to lock the front door when we went to bed. Forgetting my husband had gone outside through it earlier in the evening, we assumed it locked. Somehow, during the night, the front door drifted open. Perhaps one of the cats rubbed up against it causing it to open. When that happened, it triggered the alarm. The first phone call was from the alarm company checking to see if we were okay. Funny thing is we never heard the alarm. It wasn’t ringing when we came down to the front door. However, if you have a home security system and wonder if they really work…they do! It is money well spent!
With all of that said, here is my card for today.
Just a brief word on how I stamped this card. For the honeycomb background on the stamped image, I used the Honeycomb Textured Impressions Embossing Folder and Soft Suede Ink. To get the honeycomb image, I rubbed the ink pad right onto the inside of the folder, added the paper and then closed the folder. I then used Stampin’ Write Markers to color the different portions of the stamp and stamped the image over the top of the background.
Hope you enjoyed your visit here today. Until next time…
Happy Stamping!
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