Dave and Laura's Excellent Adventures

So we have been in Chicago for a week now and haven't done much of anything. We arrived to our hotel on Monday and spent some time with Sami. Ya I said hotel. We arrived and have no apartment. So good old Pinnacle Security is cheap and won't order enough apartments because they expect 30% of people who start with Pinnacle to quit or be fired. This sucks for us because no one has been fired or quit yet. So we are stuck at Homestead Inn, which is a part of Extended Stays Hotels, for a while. We are expecting to be stuck in there for almost a month. We feel bad because Sami has to watch our guinea pigs for a while. They get stinky fast and Sami can't handle the smell for long. We try and visit Sami and the Guinea Pigs as much as we can. We just bought a new cage for them and it has a hammock on the top. Chip loves to sleep in it and it is so cute.

We haven't really tried much food out here except for Portillos. They are a Chicago original and they are amazing. They are famous for their hot dogs and their Italian beef sandwiches. Chicago hot dogs are not a bun mustard and ketchup. They had the bun, a hotdog, mustard, relish, 1/2 chopped onion, 1/4 pickle slice, and 2 peppers slammed together. They weren't half bad either but the best thing Portillos had was their italian beef. The closest thing I can say it is like is a french dip sandwhich but way better. YUMMM!


We started installing security systems on Tuesday. The first few jobs Laura watched and I tried to teach her as much as I could. She picked up on everything really fast. By Friday we were finishing jobs in under one hour. Which is really good for installing. The office isn't incredibly busy right now but is keeping a good pace. We have been installing 2 installs eveyday so far. The great news is that almost all of the installs are takeovers. Which means they have existing panels and we just have to put up a new one and a few new sensors.

We have had some pretty interesting customers so far. We installed at a daycare that looked extremely ghetto. Laura can tell you all about how they were not up to code on almost anything.

One night we got an install at 8:30. The install said it was supposed to go in at 9 PM. So we sat outside the house for 30 mins waiting to go in. Finally we get out of the car to go into the house. A man in a car in front of us starts honking his horn. He starts yelling to his wife. She just screams "WHAT?!?" back multiple times. Finally he yells the security people are here. She screams back to take us inside. He tells us to just walk in and get started and he would be in soon. We walk in the house and all the lights are off. So we find our way to the existing panel and start working on replacing it. The man in the car walks in the house and tells us that he's been drinking in his car and passed out. He didn't need to tell us he was drinking we could definitely smell it.

His name is Andre and he is quite a character. He is a tall big black guy who reeked of alcohol. We ask him a few questions regarding the panel. As we are talking to him he starts taking his pants off and walking into the bathroom. We saw some crack... I'm sad to say the panel is right by the door and we heard everything that went on in the bathroom. It sounded like he needed a new toilet by the time he was finished. Let's just say he was very noisy in there.

He walks out of the bathroom and comes back in the room with us. He forgot to button up his pants but he doesn't seem to care. He then goes on to tell us all about the tacos he ate and how they didn't agree with him, going into detail about the noise we just heard from the bathroom. He explains how he doen't understand how Mexicans can eat tacos so much and how the cilantro made him feel. Finally, I change the subject and try to stick to the security system.

We finish the job fast and leave the house. However, the office ran out of a certain part so I had to come back the next day... We get to Andre's house to install the part and leave as soon as possible. I get to the house and Andre is just getting out of a car with a beer in his hand. It is noon and I can tell he is already wasted, again. He tells me to go in with his wife. I walk up the steps and ring the doorbell. Meet Barbara, a short plump black woman with an attitude. A real bad additude. I can't even say the hello before she starts complaining about the system. The funny thing is her complaint is about the chime feature. She complains that it is way too quiet and she wants it turned up. This is not possible on our system. She is not happy to hear this. She starts freaking out and talking about cancelling the system. I try and calm her down but it is not working. Finally, I get the sales rep on the phone and make up an excuse to leave. They cornered me and tried to get me to stay but I was crafty and finally made it out.

The sad thing is this woman will probably cancel because the chime is not loud enough. The chime feature says "front door" when the front door is open. This works for all the doors and is not very important to the overall security of the system. This may seem like a far out story but is quite normal for our job. Sorry it was so long but I thought it was worth telling.