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[Kelvin Mace]

66. If you are concerned about the safety of your loved one

there is a lot you can do.

I certainly worry about my wife, who suffers from MS, and has had a few bad falls. So, when we finally paid off our old house, I went looking for one that was a single story, and thus had no steps to climb (Her last fall on the steps in 2013 resulted in a very badly broken wrist requiring extensive surgery and rehab, which was pretty expensive, even with insurance).

I found a nice, somewhat older house that fit the bill, and immediately was advised by relatives to install a monitored burglar alarm and/or buy a gun due to it being set back from the street, and in their opinion, prone to attract thieves.

Looking over the price of alarms, I decided to pass on monitored ADT crap with a call center that the police respond to eventually (usually 30+ minutes, if you are lucky) and instead installed my own sensors and CCTV system for about the same cost as an AR-15.

The system is hooked direct to our cel phones and allows us to monitor the inside and outside of the house when we are away or home. Open any door or window, and we immediately get a text on our phone. Move around inside the house and we get a text on our phone. We can then immediately hook into any camera inside our outside the house, and see what is going on (mostly it is the cat, who despite careful placing and adjusting of sensors, still trips the system from time to time).

If I were to see someone messing around the outside of my house, I would call the police, and as I am a home owner, not a call center, and I am telling the police I am watching intruders as we speak, the response time is less than 5 minutes. I have not yet had to test this, but conversations with some LEOs informs me this is true. 99% of the time a burglar alarm call is a false alarm, so such calls have a low priority. But a call straight from the owner gets an expedited reaction.

Oh, I also have flood lights mounted on the eaves of my house with motion sensors which cut them on after dark. That means it is safer to move around outside after dark and anyone approaching the house after dark trips the lights.

If you have a halfway decent broadband connection, these systems work fine. Not perfectly, but much safer than fire arms, and since you monitor the system yourself via you smartphone, ipad or computer, no monthly fees.

As to other issues, we buy the safest used car we can find, with the latest safety features we can afford. We check in with each other when we are going places and so we can be sure we arrive safe. My sister keeps track of her kids the same way.

I get the HVAC inspected twice a year, have smoke/CO detectors and I can track this on my phone where ever I go. Oh, and the system locks up the house automatically when we leave if we forget to.

Again, all of this for about what it costs for a single AR-15.

I don't look to "fight" back. I just work with existing tech and prudent practices to stay as informed about things as possible.

Scientia est potesta, "Knowledge is power", was my old military school motto.