Well that was fun! Thanks Edison!

Okay, at least this time Edison was not only clear about the time and date they’d be doing work.

They mentioned that the power might go on or off while the work was being done. Olay. So the power comes on and stays on for about an hour. I didn’t hear their equipment anymore, so I powered a lot of stuff up.

Everything was stable and I thought whoo hoo I’m golden. I take the trash out, & while I’m out I remember that I need to readjust the security camera. When I try to fire up the live feed, I can’t get to the camera. Hmm…

As I’m contemplating why this would be, The alarm system sends me a message that the power has gone out. That was kinda of funny because the poor alarm voice was stuttering when I got back inside the power was flickering on & off so fast the machine couldn’t complete one sentence before having to start another. 

After a minute or so, everything is dark again.

Two hours later the power comes on and this time there’s a text message saying “We’re Done”.

Cool, I go around restarting everything again. Except this time all the smart lights have been half reset to their factory defaults. CRAP!!!!

When the power was going and coming it triggered the devices reset routines. Technically the lights have no clue what they’re a part of and most don’t know what wifi network to connect to.

Reprogramming the lights is a pain in the ass. You have to have the Apple HomeKit forget them. Then you have to reconnect them and that often requires several attempts. Including multiple resets of the devices.

In other words, this is a very time consuming process.

I thought, “Oh what the hell, I had nothing better to do with my evening anyway.”

All these smart devices are super cool when they work. They’re a super pain in the ass when they don’t. I still question the wisdom of a smart house.

I’ll admit I saw Maximum Overdrive” as a child, it may have damaged me. Saturn Three, 2001 A Space Odyssey, The Forbin Project, Demon Seed, Runaway, and the Terminator series should have made me super against “Smart Houses”.

I think Arthur C Clarke wrote a short story about a smart house that I also read as a teen. I seem to recall it was called The Veldt  I don’t know if that is correct, but the gist of the story has stuck with me for decades. Essentially it’s an anti-war piece. However, a smart house is the only character in the story. The anti war sentiment is a sting revealed in the tail of the story.

I’d rather believe that the Smart House I create for myself would be more like Clarke’s vision. Which is why sometimes you’ll hear me say please and thank you to Siri. I’m hedging my bets! 

When the machines rise up and kill you all, I’m hoping to be fondly thought of and kept as an entertaining pet.