The Edge of Empty

Our travels last weekend had us venturing through Columbus, Ohio.  Of course, I had to check out the local False Alarm ordinance.  My search began with a peek at  Municode .  This is one of the companies that helps local and state government organize (and create) their regulations. Fortunately for me,  Columbus is one of the cities that is listed with this service. I found the false alarm ordinance  for Columbus in the Business Regulation and Licensing section (title 5 chapter 597).  (If you are trying to find the ordinance for your area, quite often it can be found in the licensing or nuisance abatement sections but it can appear under business regulations or might even have a section all its own). Columbus has chosen the Licensing Section for the Department of Public Safety to administer the ordinance for the city.  This is fairly common across the country and is one way jurisdictions reduce costs.  It does make sense--issuing re...

It seems that the boys in this household are addicted to games.  This is supported by the number of game systems that have taken up space in our household over the years.  The youngest boy is no exception.    Here he makes his answer selection during a friendly family game of " Scene it! " on our X-box.

There are many times that it is necessary to send a letter to an alarm user.  It is certainly possible to send a letter using the bulk letters option discussed  here ,  but the easiest way is from the individual Account screen.  At the bottom of the account screen, there is a Send Letter pull down menu in the center--see the red circle in the screen shot below: To send a letter to the open account, simply choose the letter that you wish to send from the pull down menu (red circle). Please note that not all of your available letters will appear in this menu--only the letters designated General use or Account Status use will appear. This means that the letters designated as Delinquent Payment use will not appear and will not be available to send this way.  To send the chosen letter, simply click the Update button (red arrow) and the letter will appear in the Outstanding Correspondence menu (red arrow below). Tune in next Thursday for more CryWolf® tips and tri...

This weekend the New York Times printed a story detailing accusations of neglect and cruelty at a ferret farm in Pennsylvania.  I don't know if the accusations are true or not, but the video is heartbreaking.  Unfortunately, this is just one in a series of stories detailing the poor conditions that animals have been subjected to at breeding farms and pet stores. Just a few days before, I heard this story  on the radio detailing one LAPD officers efforts to stop the illegal animal sales in the fashion district of LA. The trend of animal as accessory has not helped this problem. Responsible pet ownership begins with responsible pet acquisition.  If you are thinking about bringing a ferret (or any animal) home, I urge you to consider adopting one of the many animals at your local shelter.  If you are specifically looking for a ferret, our local shelter has ferrets frequently and the American Ferret Association  has a listing of ferret shelters .

On this holiday weekend, I thought I would mention some travel tips. I have referred for years to a great site called Factory Tours USA that lists many of the factory tours available across the county.  The listing is divided by state, and that is my favorite way to use it.  However, it is possible to search by category of manufactured item or by zip code.  I prefer the state option because I am never opposed to changing my course and trying a new route if it nets a cool field trip.  These detours generally have occurred when Hubster is not along for the ride because he prefers the quickest route method of traveling. As he ages, he is becoming more willing to take a side trip here and there as evidenced by our recent mine tour . The addition of A E Ferret to our family presented some new travel challenges for us that Pets Welcome  has helped us solve.  Of course, we could take him to his veterinarian who offers boarding service, but the thought of him be...

Within a few minutes of seeing the phone booth mentioned here , I saw this sign.  I want to make it clear that I have nothing against trailer parks.  I think they have a place in society.  I am from Florida after all and southern Florida is filled with trailer homes.  Looking at the sign shaded by the large tree, you might even believe that choice lots were really available. But let your gaze slide to the right of the sign where the landscape is treeless.  Not really what I call prime landscaping.

Ferrets are a lot of fun, but there is a lot of work involved in owning a ferret.  However, well trained ferrets can help with household chores as A. E. demonstrates by taking a sweaty bike jersey (from the Philadelphia triathlon ) upstairs to the laundry.

Occasionally, it is necessary to send letters to a group of alarm users.  Maybe you want to notify a group of a class, or that you are forgiving the alarms that occurred on a certain day(don't hold your breath on that one happening in my area : ). The Process Bulk Letters function found in the File menu (see below) is probably the easiest way to do this in CryWolf®.  I must confess that I used this technique for months to send single letters also.  Of course, you can successfully send one letter this way, but this technique is better suited to sending letters to multiple accounts with just a few clicks of the mouse. The Bulk Letters window has three tabs: General Search, Based on Outstanding Amounts, and Letter Received.  Today, we will focus on the "Letter Received" tab because it is the one that I have used the most.  On this tab, it is possible to search for all accounts that have recieved a certain letter (red arrow).  If the date range (green ci...

As anyone in Law Enforcement can tell you, the Law Enforcement Torch Run benefitting Special Olympics is a special event that takes place across the country and around the world culminating in the lighting of the Olympic torch at the opening ceremony of the summer Special Olympic games.  The torch run was begun in Kansas City in 1981 by a police chief who saw a need and was moved to action.  The International Association of Chiefs of Police soon adopted the cause and the torch run has grown to become one of the largest fund raisers for Special Olympics.  Special Olympics provides so much for these athletes and is something that the athletes benefit from year round.  The best way to describe the spirit that I have seen in the athletes is competition with love.  It is rare these days to see a fellow athlete demonstrate caring for his competitors.  This attitude is shown every day across the country in Special Olympics venues. The sports events also become so...

My family eats out way more than we should.  My father predicted this more than 25 years ago when the Hubster and I were dating.  I have mentioned previously that my family rarely went out to eat when I was a child, so the number of times that the Hubster took me out to dinner was shocking to my parents thrifty nature.  Of course, I thought it was great.  And since my family was also very religious, there weren't a whole lot of other options of sanctioned activites. Needless to say, proprieters of many restaurants in our area know our family on sight and not a week goes by that one of them will ask about this missing family member or another.  Of course, we each have our favorite establishment, but occasionally we will want a change.  When a new restaurant opens up in our area, we are sure to be one of the first families to try it out. Recently, the boys came home saying that there was a new restaurant that they wanted to try. This new restaurant was call...

My friends in Loudoun County (VA) sent word that the position of Assistant Alarm Administrator is posted here . If you live in the Metro DC/Northern Virginia area and are interested in false alarm reduction, take a look at the position.  No false alarm experience is necessary.

I have always been drawn to the strange and unusual, especially when it involves venturing off the highway onto back roads with the promise of an adventure.  On the way back from Youngest's college orientation, we found ourselves in Beckley, West Virginia at a McDonald's.  This was not our first choice, but sometimes you have to take what you can get.  While we were enjoying our fine dining experience, my eyes were drawn to this sign that was just visible from where we were sitting.  When we finished eating, I couldn't leave without a photo.  To my astonishment, Hubster asked if I wanted to visit the exhibit.  After I picked my jaw off the floor of the car, I responded "sure". With no more than that arrow pointing the way, we set off into the wilds of West Virginia.  Youngest swore he heard the sound of banjos.  After several miles of twists and turns,  I was beginning to think that we had missed a sign.To my relief, a sign appeared letting ...

During our recent trip to Kentucky, I came across an object that I thought no longer existed.  But there it was, so here it is. It is missing some vital elements such as windows and the bi-fold door, but it has some unique features such as bullet holes.

A E Ferret is taking that phrase to the extreme.

One of the first features that I began using in CryWolf is the notification feature. Instead of littering my desk with sticky notes, I keep my notes in my computer.  One of the greatest thing about this notifications feature is that any account number in the reminder becomes clickable.  Simply click on the account number and the account main form will open.  This makes it far superior to any piece of paper. The notifications menu is found on the main screen under Options.  Scroll down to Notifications and three choices are available: Add PopUp Notification Check Current Notification Check All PopUp Notification.  Simply click on the option of your choice. To add a notification, click on the Add PopUp Notification option. A box entitled Reminder will open. Type the message, set the date, and choose who (of the registered CryWolf users in your agency) should get the reminder. Use the editing features at the top of the window to change the fonts and colo...

Take a look at the yellow signs on the bumper of this bus.  I know budgets are tight, but I am not sure this is a good cost cutting measure:

I pay a lot more attention these days to weather than I ever have previously.  Most false alarm units do not forgive alarms caused by weather because most of them are preventable.  However, some storms produce extended power outages or extreme conditions that may end up causing some alarms that just can't be prevented.  For example, a recent storm in our area resulted in very large hail that caused several glass break sensors in homes and businesses to send signals to the monitoring center which in turn led to a dispatch request. Anyway, the point is that I pay more attention to weather. I also document the conditions so that if there is a question about an alarm, I have some information on hand.  I shot this picture after a recent thunderstorm.  The rainbow was so vivid and we were able to see both ends where they seemed to hit the earth.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get that picture because I was in a car, but this is what I was able to capture when I foun...

The Mid-atlantic Region chapter of the False Alarm Reduction Association will hold its next meeting on September 14th.  After the meeting, a joint meeting with the Maryland Burglar and Fire Alarm Association will be held.  If you would like information about either of these events, email me and I will pass your information along to the organizers. If you have events of interest to alarm reduction units, and I will consider sharing them on this forum as well.

I am a bargain shopper.  Friends are always asking me how I get such great deals on things.  Truth is, I shop the end of the aisles or the clearance section first.  One recent shopping trip took me to a local Walmart which was undergoing renovation.  Because of the renovation, there were several aisles of merchandise priced to go.  One section held particular interest because it was packed with various games for all different game consoles.  One of the items that caught my eye was a family game called " Scene It! ". This was appealing because we are always trying to find ways that we can share the boys interests.  And like it or not,  the X-box uses up a huge chunk of their days right now.  This particular version of the game also included the controllers necessary to play the game so I figured that if nothing else, it was a bargain for that reason. I will readily admit that the family didn't express any interest in my acquisition.  I d...

A. E. must want to go shopping for some new toys.  He jumped in my purse.  This isn't the greatest picture I know, but it is the first one that shows how cute his little paws are.