June 8, 2009
it was a Monday, that it was
A couple of Saturdays ago, we set off our burglar alarm; the kids and I had been out in the sunroom drinking coffee (me) and playing with Legos (kids) and we didn’t get the door closed all the way when we left the house. The air conditioner kicked on and the door popped open and the alarm company called the police.
When the officer and I walked through the house, I said, “I’m certain we haven’t been robbed.” I’m sure he was wondering how the hell I could tell, since there were dishes all over the kitchen and three loads of laundry spread across the living room and toys covering the entire sunroom. It looked like a bomb had gone off downstairs.
Sadly, that’s how the house always looks on Saturday mornings.
I really wish I had a picture of Rita outside taking these pictures.
We did learn, to our dismay, that when our alarm goes off, none of the neighbors could hear it — and really, what’s the point of having a burglar alarm if you can’t use it to alert the neighbors to bust out their firearms and take aim at the driveway?
You think I’m kidding, but I’m not. Not entirely, at least.
We called the alarm company and asked them to send someone out to install a second alarm-y thing on the OUTSIDE of our house, so that Dave and Rita can have the thrill of thinking we’re being robbed — oh, no, wait, Susan just forgot to disarm the alarm when she went out to get the dry cleaning! Again! Whoops!
Sorry, neighbors.
Email from Rita: Just in case you wake up tomorrow and think to yourself, “That was all just a bad dream …”
During the installation process, the alarm guy managed to both cut off my landline AND set off the alarm, which meant that when the alarm company called to ask if everything was okay, no one answered. So they called the fire department and FOUR trucks pulled up outside my house.
And Rita took pictures. Thanks, neighbor!
The alarm guy came in, apologizing profusely. And then he said, “But you know what? Your response time here is amazing. I cannot believe how fast they got here! If you ever do have an emergency, you are all set!”
Good to know! I guess.
Posted by Susan @ 9:00 pm • good people
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June 8th, 2009 at 9:28 pm, Keyona Says:
Sounds like your neighbors rock!
June 8th, 2009 at 9:32 pm, Ashley Says:
Good to know you’re taken care of! And that your alarm obviously works!
Hope Tuesday goes better for you!
June 8th, 2009 at 9:59 pm, Katherine @ Grass Stains Says:
Susan, That reminds me of my friend Bonnie who was telling me that about three months ago, they set off their house alarm in a similar fashion. They don’t have a landline, so even though she turned the alarm off pretty quickly, policemen arrived anyway — VERY quickly! She simply met them at the front door and apologized profusely, saying that everything was fine and it was a false alarm. One of them was looking past her into the house, and said, “Ma’am, I’m sorry but I’m going to have to come in and make sure that there’s no one in the house. You could be being held against your will, and we need to come in.” He and his partner came in and inspected the house, and then as they were leaving, he admitted sheepishly that he’s insisted because her den looked like it had been ransacked, and he thought maybe she’d interrupted a robbery in progress and then was being held by the robber. SHE WAS MORTIFIED! Of course, I laughed so hard I cried.
June 8th, 2009 at 10:26 pm, Christine Says:
OMG! You really are having a Monday. Although good did come out of it. Now you know the emergency response time and you had some good blog fodder.
Hope the rest of the week is better!
June 8th, 2009 at 10:43 pm, Crystal Says:
But if you’re being robbed, shouldn’t the police show up?
June 9th, 2009 at 7:38 am, Mel Says:
Points on response time. Here when our alarm goes off, it takes about 45minutes for the police to arrive -
June 9th, 2009 at 1:27 pm, Annette Says:
Good to know the response time is considered amazing by the alarm installer which probably is saying something. And good for you guys for getting another alarm installed that the neighbors can hear. Hopefully they won’t roll their eyes and ignore it like some do in my neighborhood. I hope the city doesn’t bill you for the second time the fire department came to your house. I guess it all depends on how they note the call and what the city code states foro false alarms. I don’t remember what the numbers are here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area with regard to how many false alarms are allowed before a fee is imposed; however, I do remember an article stating that something like 97% of the calls received are false alarms which boggled my mind. I guess if you do get a bill for the second call, it’s the fault of the alarm company and not you.
June 9th, 2009 at 3:28 pm, Sage Says:
In our area — we get charged a fee for false alarms…even though it took them hours to actually show up.