Paging the Man Who’s Being Burglarized!

August 21, 2001 - Every year America’s workforce packs up their luggage and hits the open road, or the friendly skies for two weeks of rest and relaxation. Whatever they do, wherever they go, they lock their houses up, and hope that their possessions are going to be safe while they are away. Despite the great alarm systems now used in most residences, even if anything does happen, homeowners won’t know about it until they arrive back from their vacation. But not so in Keith Personett’s case. He not only knew that something was going down at his house, he was able to do something about it, even though he was out of town on vacation.

"I finally made it!" Keith said. "I’d built the home of my dreams." Realizing how long it had taken to achieve his dream, Keith figured that he might as well take it to the limits. "I installed ActiveHome, along with security monitoring from ORCA and now, I am so glad that I did. Without ActiveHome, I’m not sure if ANY of our possessions would still be ’in our possession.’ "

Keith and his wife Amber had gone on vacation to Las Vegas. Once there, they took in a show, played some games, and saw the sights. It was a dream vacation. But the vacation did have one little snag. As Keith put it, "Amber and I were standing in a casino in Vegas when my cellular phone went off." That phone call was from Keith’s "Protector Plus" Security System calling him to let him know that there was something wrong at the house. So Keith immediately called ORCA Home Security, who had already responded and were sending the police to the house. By the time Keith had reached the officers on the phone, he was informed "they had the criminal in custody."

Keith said the criminal told the officers that no matter where he went around the house lights were coming on and strange things were happening. The officer on the scene also asked Keith about Cinder, Keith’s Labrador Retriever. "I told him that Cinder was at a kenneling service while we were on vacation," Keith said. "Then the officer told me that there was a dog barking inside the house." Keith informed the officer that it was only RoboDog, and that it would stop momentarily." In fact, Keith said, he ended up giving the officer X10’s web address. The officer told Keith that he planned to purchase the same setup for his mother who lived alone.

"I told him all about all of the other services that X10 and ORCA provide for people who prefer to live independently in their advancing years," Keith said. Then he says that his wife "Amber and I enjoyed the rest of our vacation with the confidence that no matter what, we were in good hands as far as home security was concerned. I just wish our luck in Las Vegas was as good as our luck at home had been." But as some gamers say "it’s not really luck, it’s knowledge, intuition, and know-how." Except in the case of X10. "There it’s superior technology, excellent service, and a fantastic network of Security Professionals. I guess NOT having the ActiveHome System with ORCA monitoring WOULD have been ’living on luck’," Keith says.

And with that, Keith, who smells the coffee brewing in the kitchen, says goodbye to X10 and hello to another day. A day back at home, and his first day back to work from his vacation. It’s good for him to be back home, and it’s especially good that he was able to avert a situation even while he was away on vacation. He leaves us with one thought though: "I only wish that I could write a good ActiveHome macro to build the perfect Denver Omelet." But nobody’s figured out a way to get chickens to respond to ActiveHome just yet.

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