Home Security Systems

Mastering the home security system is one of the most challenging obstacles when moving to a new home. I've often wondered why "regular" folk, such as myself, need a home security system. Regardless, most houses seem to come with them.

We're fairly simple people. While I certainly wouldn't want my personal space intruded upon, the truth is that my most valued possessions are my books. We have no elaborate entertainment centers or fancy gizmos, only knock-off jewelery (purchased by my husband in NY's Chinatown), shoes from DSW, and clothes from Sears or JC Penney. In my mind, if someone is foolish enough to break in - take it! I need the closet space.

The previous owner of our new home installed a security system with more wires than a cable distribution center. He kindly left a sheet with different numerical codes, depending upon what security setting you wanted: locked up with people inside, locked up with no people inside, locked up except for the garage, motion detectors, and so forth.

The first night in the house we were all exhausted. At midnight, I wanted to put my head on a pillow and wake up next week. My husband, so excited in his new castle, felt compelled to arm the security system. I suggested, " Perhaps that could wait until we aren't so tired." " We'll understand all the instructions better," I reasoned. Hunched over the papers on the kitchen counter, a gleam of anticipation in his eye, my husband said, "Here we go!" Peck. Peck. Peck.

Almost immediately the system began chirping, "Bidda, Bidda, Bip, Bip.... Bidda, Bidda, Bip, Bip...." We looked at each other thinking, "Did we activate a bomb?" Within 30 seconds the whole house reverberated with a crippling, "Whoop, Whoop, Whoop!"

The kids started screaming, the dogs started howling. I covered my ears thinking, "The whole neighborhood will wake up because of the new people." Peck, peck, peck. Nothing. Peck, peck, peck. Still nothing. "Whoop, Whoop, Whoop!"

"Doesn't this thing time out?" I shouted.
"I don't think so... What if it goes to the police station?" My husband started to panic. Peck, peck, peck. "Whoop, Whoop, Whoop!"

Finally, he started pulling wires from the box tucked away in a kitchen cabinet. Nothing. "Whoop, Whoop!" He ran down to the basement looking for the breaker box. "Get me the wire cutters!" he yelled over his shoulder. I turned in a circle eye-balling a wall of cartons 6 ft high. "Yeah, right," I thought. I grabbed a box cutter and raced after him.

We stood in awe looking at the security system box. Wires of every color wrapped, crossed, and bundled together. "Whoop, Whoop, Whoop!"
"I'm cutting them," he shouted, sawing and hacking his way through the connections. "Bidda... Bidda... bip... boop..." Silence.

Hence forth and hereafter, we have never activated any security system in our subsequent homes. Yes, there has been existing hardware, but it's always disabled before we move in. Oh, and the bidda -boop system we severed, it cost $500 for the company to splice and repair the rainbow of wires for the next owners. Hope they had better luck!