Buyer Beware!

I have been absolutely floored by the service problems I have had with ADT (the home security company). A few weeks ago, I had an alarm event in the middle of the night. The alarm was triggered and ran for several minutes while I carefully checked the house to determine what had triggered the alarm. ADT DID NOT RESPOND!!!!

Since ADT did not respond or even give me a courtesy call, I attempted to contact the monitoring service. I could not get through and was placed on hold for a long time. The next morning I thought surely everything was a fluke, and I attempted to contact the monitoring service and was placed on hold AGAIN.

When I finally got through, they sent a technician out to my house to determine why the signal did not work. He could not identify a problem and said everything was working fine.

I have requested that my contract with ADT be terminated on the grounds that the equipment is unreliable (the signal did not go through when the alarm was triggered) and also because the monitoring service is unreliable (I was unable to reach them on two occasions). I thought that surely I would be allowed to end my contract since ADT was not providing the monitoring service that I am paying a monthly premium for. I was wrong.

ADT's position is that since they cannot identify the problem that caused the failure in my alarm system, they have no responsibility to do anything else. They also hold the position that they are not responsible if their customers cannot access the monitoring service because they cannot control call volume (personally, I would consider this a staffing issue that should be addressed...)

At any rate, if you are considering ADT or if you have this service, please be aware that the monitoring you may be receiving may not be reliable. Also be aware that if you need to access the monitoring service because you are having an alarm event, you may not be able to get through. And, despite the monthly premium you pay, ADT will be unwilling to refund your money if they drop the ball on your monitoring.

Most customers will never need ADT's monitoring service and will thus never really know whether the service is reliable or not. My experience tells me that the service is NOT reliable. Please be aware of this fact if you have ADT or are considering purchasing this lousy service. Invest in a dog or a cell phone...you stand a much better chance at resting safer at night.

Speak softly and carry a big stick....

So, two weeks into grad school and I feel like I got hit by a bus. For those of you who may not know, there is a mentality that we can provide as much education to our folks as anyone in the civilian world, only faster. I am currently taking 17 grad school credit hours, all compressed into a two-month semester. We will complete all of our classes by the end of this year and enter residency next year. So, needless to say, sleep is a luxury at this point (which is why I am on the Internet at 1am).

Anyway, the past two weeks have been interesting to say the least. Last Sunday I decided to take an evening run at about 8:45pm (because that is the only time you can run in San Antonio). I was feeling great and ran three miles (pregnancy hasn't completely caught up with me yet). As I was on my cool-down, I got bitten by a dog in the neighborhood. Some lady was walking her two terriers and had them on a leash. As I passed her, one of her dogs ran after me and bit me right on the knee. It drew blood instantly and the knee swelled up like a goose egg.

So, I figured accidents happen. I didn't get mad, I just turned around to talk to the lady. Would you believe the next words that came out of her mouth? Direct quote: "Why didn't you STOP!? Really, you should be a more responsible runner (incidentally, I was walking at the time). You saw me with my dogs on the sidewalk, why weren't you running in the street?!" (A great idea after dark...she was full of good ideas).

So, I physically took a step back, closed my eyes, took three deep breaths (At this point I was very thankful for the three hours of stress management training we had the week prior). After I calmed myself, I started with something like this... "Lady, let me tell you something....."

By this time the dog is growling, so I decided it really wasn't going to help my case to get in a fight about the dog bite. I was actually pretty nice about it, but I did feel like she needed to be made aware of what her responsibilities were as a dog owner. In the end I told her I would not press charges and would not sue her (generous, given the fact that she NEVER apologized). She continued to make her point about how I can improve myself by becoming a more responsible runner and running in the street so her vicious dog can have the sidewalk to himself. She made me sick.

Anyway, I ended up spending the rest of the evening (and morning) in the ER. Since class is not really an optional participation event, I got up the next morning (a few hours later) and went to class. Thus started a pretty long streak of sleepless nights, but I have at least learned that it is possible to exist on 5 hours a night or less (not comfortable, but possible).

Anyway, I spent a few days being a giant baby in a leg immobilizer, but once the swelling went down, I was completely fine.

The past two weeks of class have been really grueling, but I have to admit, I am enjoying it. My classmates are great and we really do work well together. It is nice to have such a small class and a pretty small teacher-student ratio.

Tim just arrived at the National Training Center in California, so I probably won't hear from him very much for the next month. Timmy is doing great with Cansu. We got him enrolled in daycare once a week to keep him socialized with other toddlers. We call this place the Country Club because of all the fun things they do with the kids there. They have a little water park, indoor and outdoor playgrounds, a little soda shop, a kitchen for cooking lessons, art, learning rooms and a million other things. Timmy loves it and it give Cansu a little breather during the week as well.

Timmy is really coming along with his growth and development. His latest interests include Toy Story 3 and puzzles. I bribed him with a Woody action figure one late night at Wal-Mart (doesn't everyone do their grocery shopping at 10pm?) Since then he has been going around the house asking "Where's my Woody??" He has also started doing jigsaw puzzles. I have to admit, I am pretty proud of him on this account. My Aunt Cathy sent him a big floor puzzle and I thought he would never be able to put it together. He really surprised me this week! The best part of this little arrangement is that he can concentrate on these puzzles for a half hour at a time or more. I didn't know that was possible for two year olds! Perhaps I'm biased, but I think he's the best kid ever.