Of Seeking Solutions

So! I walked around Hobbit Cottage minutes ago with my camera looking for something to show you which I've not shown you already.

My, my, my. I was, like, "Oh! How about....? No, they saw that already. Or what about....? Nah, they saw that, too. Or what---? Nope, been there, done that."

But then, alas! I recalled that you hadn't heard our doorbell story.

See, back on the farm, our driveway ran along our bay window, so when Tom arrived home and backed down the driveway, I easily saw the car from my computer there in the dining room. Then I'd race down the back porch steps to outside, where he'd be waiting, ready to hand me any packages. I'd then carry them inside the house so to make things easier for him (he uses two canes when he walks) and he'd finish backing the car down into the garage then walk to the house without having to carry anything.

That system worked well for us those three years.

But here? Uh-oh. The only way to see the driveway (and Tom's arrival) is to keep running to the small kitchen window over and over to check whether he's back, meaning constantly interrupting whatever I'm trying to accomplish while he's gone.

So not good.

Well, after complaining a few times about this, I told Tom, "I wonder if they make a sort of electronic doorbell which you can keep inside the car, with the 'bell part' inside the house. You know, one that has a button which you can press from the car so to alert me when you've arrived home."

Turns out, they do. And for only $19 at True Value Hardware Stores.

Oh! He bought one and instantly my life became easier. The doorbell comes with two buttons, so we keep one in the car and Tom attached the other one beside our backdoor (in case you wondered what the heck that top photo is about, now you know). And all we had to do was plug-in the 'doorbell works' into an outlet inside the house:

Could anything be easier? I don't think so.

So now Tom simply alerts me he's home from the driveway, plus, not only do we have the backdoor bell now, but we always know at which door our guests are standing, since both doorbells sound different. I mean, at our previous suburb house the front and back doorbells sounded the same and good grief! I'd have to guess which door to run to (usually guessing incorrectly).

Oh, and the front doorbell Hobbit Cottage came with? We adore it. It plays the beginning line of "Hail, hail the gang's all here" in pretty bell tones. Another darling surprise about this place.

And well, ok. Not exactly deep, spiritual stuff today at As I See It Now, but you know? There is an important lesson, nonetheless, one I often share:

If something isn't working for us-- instead of just complaining about it--we should try to fix it. (Even if our attitude is all we can fix at the time.). It's amazing how much better that feels!  ッ

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