Erieversible

A relaxed Saturday, with only a minimal attempt to continue the transformation from house to home.  All we did today was add a few houseplants and start putting up the pictures we shipped from the Isle of Man.  But what a difference!

It is amazing how different a room becomes with plants and pictures.  We had plants and pictures in our Douglas home, and brought those pictures with us.  The plants are new, as US Customs don’t take kindly to flora entering the country.  We knew it would help the rooms take shape, but had totally underestimated just how much it would help.

More rooms are due to get the same treatment, but we need to get the furniture in those rooms sorted first before the ‘plants and pictures’ touch is added.  Slowly, but quickly, this is becoming home.

The weekend saw another lot of changes in the house, specifically existing, non-funtional window ‘treatments’ were removed in the living and dining rooms and new hardware and functional curtains installed.  The whole feel of those rooms has now changed - for the better, of course.

We’ve used two different brands of window hardware so far in the house, and the stuff I had to battle with at the weekend came with flat head screws.  The question I asked, repeatedly, loudly, with various swear words interspersed, was “Why?”.

Why would any manufacturer market window hardware with flat head screws?  They do not allow as much torque to be applied, and when working at ceiling height the advantages of a Phillips head should be obvious.  Rather than battle on with the inadequate fittings provided with the hardware I nipped out to Lowes and bought some equivalent Phillips head screws.  Job done.

So, why do they sell such items with flat head screws?  The only advantage I’m aware of for flat head screws is that, in an emergency, various other devices other than a screwdriver can be used.  However, I cannot envisage a situation when the installation or removal of curtain hardware would constitute an emergency.  Are flat head screws measurably cheaper in that using 4 of those rather than 4 Phillips reduces costs noticeably?

The other brand of window hardware we have used comes with Phillips screws.  As we work through the house and need more fittings, I know which we’ll use.

I’d like to be notified, wherever I am, when the power fails at our house.  I’d like to be notified when the level in the sump reaches a certain height.  I’d like not to pay a fortune for that service.

There are a number of devices that will detect those events.  Some are ‘local’ and just emit a loud noise.  Some will call you up by phone.  Those sounded like they’d be perfect.  Except that we have a digital phone service and that won’t work without power.

So I’ll throw a UPS backup device into the mix, to support the cable modem/phone box.  Except that the digital phone service still won’t work.  At least, according to the “customer service” people at Time Warner Cable.  Unfortunately I don’t believe them.  Why not?  Well, they can’t explain why it won’t work, and they all appear to be quoting from standard question responses.  In other words, they haven’t got a clue and are just parroting pre-prepared answers to common questions, picking the answer that seems to best suit my question.  That is fast becoming the dictionary definition for “customer service”.

If I can’t be phoned with the alerts, how about an email?  What I really need is a device that networks and acts on these triggers.  Technology has moved on from phones being the pinnacle.  These devices should perform the same basic function but use up to date communication methods.  However, it seems no-one else thinks so, as such devices are nowhere to be found.

I think I’ll try the UPS route anyway.  Or can anyone out there tell me why that wouldn’t work?  Why does the cable modem/phone box care where the local power comes from?  It’s all way beyond my simple mind.

Update:  After battling past the first-level “customer service”, through the second-level supervisor and then management, I finally, at the 4th time of asking, received a believable answer from one of their technicians.  The answer?  A UPS will indeed be sufficient to keep the digital phone working for local (i.e. not affecting Time Warner themselves) outages.  But why was it such a battle, and what about the poor average customer who believes the first (or second, or third) answer given?  I guess it is back to the new fangled concept of “customer service” meaning “read from the script”.