Friday, August 28, 2009

Where Do You Keep Your Fantasy Football Roster?

'Cause this is where we keep ours:


Not a great picture, but you may be able to tell that the rosters are hanging off the entertainment center above the television. Last night, the guys worked on the order for the draft (which is in the morning) and wanted to keep it front and center in case they change their minds. They rearranged my pictures and used them for paperweights. I guess it works for them, but frankly, I think I will be glad when this is all over!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

To Watch Or Not To Watch, And Does It Really Matter?

I think I have referred to our night monitoring system. Basically there are several cameras on the guys' side of the house. At night, there is a central location where all of the homes are monitored. We have gotten calls in the middle of the night for things like "so and so is making a big mess cooking in the kitchen" - (um yeah, please don't ever wake us up for that, we'll deal with it in the morning) as well as non-client related incidents such as "the front door just blew open." (This is Kansas and that DOES happen. Crazy!) Anyway, they also call in the mornings if they don't see us and we stand in front of the camera and wave to them, so they can go home.

Even though it is only monitored at night, we have a monitor on our side of the house which also displays what the cameras are seeing. (Nice if we hear noises and don't want to go over, we can turn on the side-by-side (the official name) and check out the goings-on.) The side-by-side flashes to each camera and stays in that room for about 2 seconds. The video is great and even when it's dark, you can still see everything. I'm way impressed with that (tells a little about how technologically ignorant I am.) The only thing we don't have is sound - probably good since it flashes from room to room.

All that was said to say this. Last night Ms. Night Monitor calls to tell me that the connection to our house was down and we might have to sleep with the connecting door open. She told me to check my side-by-side to see if it was working so we could tell if it was a camera problem or a connection problem. Ours was working. So she says, "Good deal, just keep your side-by-side on while you are sleeping so you'll know if something happens and we'll get somebody out there to work on that tomorrow." I was very confused but said okay and hung up. Lowell had the same reaction as I did and if I have done any kind of job describing this system, then you, dear reader will probably feel the same.

Somebody at the central night monitoring place is paid to stay up all night and watch the monitors while we sleep. So if that person can't watch, we can just turn ours on, go to sleep, and get the same results? I dare say not. But when I think about it, I have to wonder if the people who are actually supposed to be watching may just be sleeping too, and therefore don't see the problem with asking us to watch the monitor, with no sound, while we are asleep...

Monday, August 24, 2009

Who Responds to Pop-Up Ads?

We do, we do!!!! Well, not really us, but one of the guys here. He recently got a computer and an internet connection. (Not our idea, but we really can't argue with what the guardians want and are willing to pay for.)

A month or so ago, the new computer guru comes downstairs with great news. "Guess what?" he says, "I am going to ITT Technical College!" Having MANY other things on my mind as we were in the midst of a move, hence no blogging for several weeks, I simply replied, "Well that's great. I am so happy for you." And I continued about my business. He didn't want to let it drop though. He very excitedly told me that he was on the internet and the "coolest thing happened." He was just sitting there and this little box popped up saying that he could go to ITT Tech and he could do it all online. He only had to fill out the form, enter his phone number and a representative would be in contact. Woo hoo, I couldn't wait for the phone to ring.

I didn't have to wait long at all. By the next day the phone was ringing like crazy. It wasn't just ITT Tech on the list, but apparently that little pop-up box goes to every single technical college in the country. (And I mean really, is this the best means to get a strong applicant pool? People who fill out the pop-up box MAY not be the BEST students around, but who am I to judge?) I tried telling the first few who called that this was a mistake and he was not interested in applying, but several called back. And because we reap what we sow, I put him on the phone. Probably needless to say, but after talking to several of the college representatives, he somehow got off of that list. Bye bye Technical Institute of Nebraska.

So I thought the lesson had been learned, but once again, I was wrong. The phone rang several times today. Everybody asked for "Mr. I haven't learned my lesson about filling in the pop-up boxes" so I gave him the phone. When he was out this evening, I answered the phone and asked to take a message. The guy on the other end explained that he was calling from Prepaid Legal Aid and had gotten the number from a "work from home" pop-up that had been filled out. I explained that this guy probably wouldn't be the most viable candidate for his job. He apologized and promised not to call back.

My favorite part of the day though had to be when he comes downstairs and explains that he has taken the phone off the hook because people just keep calling and he can't quite figure out why. We tried to explain that the phone off the hook really isn't fair to the other people in the house, but honestly it's been nice not to hear the incessant ring.