That'll Wake the Neighbors- Our First House Mishap

Encountering some mishap while getting the new house ready was inevitable. It just came from an unexpected source- the alarm system. Our new house has a robust alarm system. There are motion sensors in every room and a panic button in our bedroom. It even has its own little box next to the circuit breaker in the basement. I think it’s overkill considering how nice the neighborhood is. There’s even a light switch in the bedroom that turns on a flood light outside. I’ve never seen an outside light controlled from a bedroom before! Regardless of the paranoia of the former owner, I look at the alarm system as something that might be good to have, even if it’s just for the insurance discount.

We Found Out that it Works

A couple Saturdays ago, I was taking the wallpaper off the master bedroom wall with my grandparents. Suddenly, the alarm started blaring. The system has a bullhorn on the outside of the house, so everyone within a half mile can probably hear it. The shock wore off after a second and I ran into the kitchen to find the instructions that the previous owner left. Naturally I didn’t read it ahead of time.

I searched through the pages, trying to find a code. There were two, so I tried them both. Neither worked.

Then I remembered that the seller’s daughter left us her phone number so that we could call if we had any questions. I swore I saw it on the counter for days leading up to it but now it was nowhere to be found. After frantically looking under things, I called Marisa to see if she moved it.

“Did you check with the rest of the paperwork?” was her response.

I said that we had (my grandma looked there) but that she didn’t see it.

After a few more minutes of fruitless searching, we finally found the card. It was with the other paperwork.

Help is Kind-of On its Way

The seller’s daughter picked up the call and tried walking me through some steps that I missed in the paperwork. Unfortunately it still wouldn’t turn off. My nerves were fraying- what a way to make a first impression with the neighbors! After a few tries, she told me “why don’t you just keep trying those four numbers.” At that point, I knew we were on our own.

After maybe 10 minutes of this alarm blaring, we got it to turn off by disconnecting the battery backup and unplugging the alarm. I could finally breathe and think again. None of the neighbors came by to complain, so I assume it didn’t wake too many people up. It turned out to be a minor mishap, but it was notable because it’s the first we experienced in the new house. I’m expecting a lot more little mishaps in the future.