Month: July 2019

What to do when you’re outside… but your keys are inside

It’s 8:25am, your wife is already at work, the kids are at school and you’re running late. The note on the fridge reminds you that it’s trash day… and the garbage truck will be there any minute. You make a mad dash to grab the can and get it to the curb, only to discover that… you’ve locked yourself out of the house. NOOOOOOOO!!!

There are a few things you can do before throwing a rock through a window… or worse… go all Chuck Norris and try kicking in the front door, possibly fracturing your tibia.

So, follow these tips to get back inside and save yourself a trip to the Emergency Room.

1 – Take a deep breath

Deep breathing is one of the best ways to lower stress in the body. This is because when you breathe deeply, it sends a message to your brain to calm down and relax. The brain then sends this message to your body. Those things that happen when you are stressed, such as increased heart rate, fast breathing, and high blood pressure, all decrease as you breathe deeply to relax. You’ll be in a much better state of mind for solving the “key” problem at hand. Breathing exercises are a great way to reduce stress daily… but maybe today isn’t the day to start. Just a few slow breaths ought to do it.

2 – Look for an unlocked entry point

I know, I know… you always keep your doors and windows shut and locked; however, it’s worth taking a look to see if someone left a door out back unlocked or a bathroom window open. Always start with this plan of action since it’s the easiest and fastest way to get back into the house. Only check the access points on the first floor. Avoid climbing trees and trellises to check windows on the upper levels. Again, we’re trying to avoid a broken leg.

3 – Text/Call someone who has a key

Your spouse or kids should have a key, so I’d start there. Unless of course, your phone is inside the house… on the kitchen counter… keeping your keys company. If that’s the case, start thinking of anyone else… anyone close… who might have a spare; a babysitter or pet sitter from the neighborhood perhaps. If you’re in an apartment, go have the landlord/maintenance staff open the door for you. At this point you’re probably second guessing your decision to not buy the hide-a-key rock in the Skymall magazine because you didn’t think it looked real enough.

4 – MacGyver it

Since you’re not an accomplished burglar, or ex CIA, picking the lock probably isn’t an option. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some other acts of ingenuity you can try. Some people might suggest a credit card… but unless you’re trying to break into your master bathroom, you’ll need something a little sturdier. Run over to the neighbors and borrow a butter knife (less creepy than showing up on their doorstep asking for a boning knife or cleaver). Slide the blade of the knife between the door and the strike plate until you hit the door’s plunger or bolt. Then, you can try to force the bolt away from the doorjamb and push the door open. The thought then occurs to you, if you went over to your neighbors, why didn’t you just call your wife from their phone.

5 – Call a locksmith

This is the most expensive way to get back into your house… unless you didn’t take my advice and threw a rock through the window. It also requires a long wait, and reliance on a phone. The upside is that a locksmith will get you into your house for sure, and do it without damaging any of your property.

6 – Stop it from ever happening again

Now that you’ve made it back in safely… don’t let it happen again. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Not sure how to compare a pound of cure to not getting locked out or keeping your family safe, but you get what I mean. The Smart Home solution:

No more keys – Unlock your door with a unique code that you came up with, instead of a key

Lock/Unlock door remotely – This time you’re on your way to work and you realize you didn’t lock the door. No problem. You can use your phone app to lock or unlock the front door from anywhere.

Multiple access codes – You can create multiple access codes so that you don’t have to give out your own personal code to the babysitter… or even the in-laws. Give them their own code, and then just disable it later. That way you’re not resetting it all the time, like your work email password.

What does all of that mean? It means your Smart Home system does just as much to keep you stress and worry free as your new breathing exercises. It gives you the peace of mind that asleep or awake, home or away, you and your family are safe.

Ready to keep your family safe? Call 800-973-9001 (or just fill out the form below) to get a free quote today and see how Titan Alarm can help bring you that peace of mind.

SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!! … the quotes are free?

You bet they are… and not just for the front door, for all of your doors, windows, thermostat, lights, etc…

FREEDOM

I didn’t feel free at all. I felt like a prisoner to my own business

I was going to fail… until I found this

I was at a basketball game a few years ago, rooting on a professional team from the next town over. The playoffs were just around the corner and this was a pivotal game, a must-win as they call it, and it was close… too close. As the halftime buzzer loudly rang, I let out a big sigh of air… apparently, I had been holding my breath down the stretch. As I contemplated taking the arduous journey up the arena’s steps, through the throngs of people, eventually overpaying for a subpar hotdog – a diminutive figure made its way out to center court. As I squinted my eyes to better focus on what was taking place, I noticed a little woman in a brightly-colored, silk costume. I took notice as she began to spin plates on top of thin poles that were a few feet taller than she was. Before I could blink, she had 10 plates spinning all at once.

As she finished with the tenth plate, the first one she had put up started to wobble a bit as it lost speed. She quickly moved to it, and with a flick of her wrist and the deft touch of her fingers, got the plate spinning optimally once again. But… just as she got the first plate back where it needed to be, the second and third plates started to waiver. I thought for sure one of them was going to fall and shatter on the court’s wood floor below. Minutes past, and not one plate fell. The lady frantically ran from plate to plate preventing a crash through the gyroscopic motion of the spin. I don’t know what her anxiety was like… but mine was through the roof just watching. Eventually it ended, but not before I had this thought, “how long could she honestly keep this up for… at some point, she had to fail.”

Years later, I started my first company… and I became the plate spinner. I proudly named myself CEO, and quickly learned that it stood for Chief Everything Officer. There were so many things that had to be handled every day, and I was the only one there to do it. Frantically running around keeping everything moving; marketing, sales, business development, programming, customer service, HR, packing and shipping, etc. And then the startling flashback to the basketball game… “how long could I honestly keep this up for… at some point, I had to fail! And my anxiety… through the roof.

The solution was to quickly surround myself with help. As I brought people on to take over different tasks/departments, it was hard to let go. I was so used to touching all the facets of the company, that I worried about how things were being handled… especially when I wasn’t there. I assumed that there would be a sense of freedom as a business owner… isn’t that why I started it in the first place? But I didn’t feel free at all.

I felt like a prisoner to my own business. Like an anxious, over-the-top, first-time parent who wakes up for every little sound they hear throughout the night… checking the monitor ad nauseam to make sure everything is ok; knowing that they can never leave the house because of the guilt of leaving their child with someone else.

And then things changed… for the better. I finally started to settle down as I surrounded myself with amazing… very capable… employees, who I trusted to do a good job. I knew they loved the company as much as I did, and worked their guts out to break through limits and hit ever growing goals.

That wasn’t all though. There was one more piece to the puzzle. One more solution that had eluded me over the years that I finally was able to adopt and run with. A new brand of technology.

I installed a new commercial security system… and it’s the greatest choice I ever made. It’s my Zen.

PEACE OF MIND

Did someone access the inventory room after hours? Was that a false alarm or a real one? Was the alarm turned on tonight? With real-time notifications, remote control and auto-arming, I now know what’s happening at my business, and know it’s secure, no matter where I am or what time it is.

KEEP AN EYE ON THINGS

I can see all the important activity at my business, even when I’m on the road. With single and multi-site viewing, live-streaming, recorded video and real-time notifications, it’s easy to see what’s happening when I can’t be there.

NO WORRYING THAT OTHERS WILL FORGET

I set up your system to arm automatically at a certain time each day or on a schedule that works with your business hours… and it was easy to do.

ENERGY SAVINGS

I even save energy. Using on-site thermostat lock-out, employees can’t crank up the air conditioning or blast the heat outside of a temperature range that I define. I connected all my lights, locks and thermostats to the security system to ensure that my business is at a comfortable temperature when it’s open and energy efficient when it’s closed.

SECURITY

Whether you have a small team or hundreds of employees like I now do, you can easily manage multiple access plans, remotely lock or unlock doors and monitor activity at your business.

Did I stop worrying about my business? No!

Is it constantly on my mind? Yes.

But… knowing that I can check in when I want to, or get alerts when things aren’t right… I can actually step away and enjoy a vacation from time to time. Or enjoy my son’s baseball game or my daughter’s dance recital. I mean, that’s why I got into this in the first place right? Freedom.

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