I'm still here, really! Since I last updated you, we spent two more glorious beach days at Good Harbor. Just as we arrived in the parking lot on Saturday, my cell phone rang. It was the alarm company saying that our fire alarm was going off, and since they were unable to reach us at home, they'd sent the fire department! Luckily Andy's parents were home; they have an extra key to our house, so Jerry went over to check things out and to disable the alarm and set the firefighers on their way. (That evening we ran into some neighbors who said that they'd also called 911 for us when they heard the alarm going. And going. And going.) Later that afternoon, just as we pulled into the driveway after our beach day was over, we heard the alarm start up again! I ran in and disabled it just as the alarm company was calling the house, so this time we avoided bothering the fire department.
Remember this happened just a couple of months ago? At that time I had the alarm company guy come here and check everything out, and he'd proclaimed everything fine and working—he said it could have been as simple as a spider inside the unit that disrupted the contacts for a half-second. Well, you can bet I called back yesterday and said that we either have a major spider problem, or something is really wrong. He said that we might need to replace the whole system (which was here when we moved in). Ugh, not an expense we were planning for this year.
Sometimes I think that we've all become too dependent on our cell phones, but this was a case when I was very glad that the alarm company was able to reach me, and that I was able to reach Jerry. Also because of cell phones, on Wednesday I was able to sneak off the beach for a few minutes and into the parking lot so I could participate in an important work-related conference call! I had printed out all the documents I might need, so no one was the wiser that I was in my swimsuit and flipflops in the car instead of in my office in front of the computer. I felt very sneaky.
Yesterday was the first day of my two weeks during this whole summer when all three kids are at camp. Steph is still at sleepaway camp, Pete is doing soccer camp this week and "extreme sports" next week, and Julie is doing regular camp. I finished up a big editing project over the weekend; now I have just enough work to keep me busy but to also allow some free (gasp!) time for myself.
Just read your book reviews, and i think you are great. you are too good not to make a buck out of a hobby.love, Uncle Dood
Posted by: david freedman | July 14, 2011 at 02:16 PM