1. Automated alarm system - I have already contracted a local company to install an alarm system. It will have door sensors, motion detectors, and a siren; it will be a monitored system that will notify police on an alarm event. I need to ask them about a duress button that will active a silent alarm/police notification when pushed.
2. I am going to install my own video surveillance system. Samsung makes a four camera system with a split screen monitor that shows all four views at the same time. It has a digital signal out that you can send to a DVR recorder. I am going to either purchase a DVR system, or just build another computer with a large hard drive to copy to... I will also set this system up to be an Internet monitoring system. This will act as a webcam, where anyone can take a look at the shop at anytime. I plan to have one camera on the register/bar, one on the cafe, one in the studio, and one in the back room.
3. Then comes the debate on defensive handguns... I very firmly believe that the police are not here to protect us. They are here to investigate a crime and try to catch the bad guy before he does it again. If you have ever been in a bad situation, and the police arrived in time to protect you, then count yourself blessed. I don't want to put the safety of our shop, including us, our employees, our customers, and our kids if they are there in the hands of police who may not arrive in time if things get ugly, God forbid.
Most petty criminals used to just take the money, or merchandise, and leave. In today's society fueled by violent video games, violent movies, violent song lyrics, etc. etc. there are just too many people willing to kill someone for $50 out of the cash drawer. Colorado Springs isn't that bad, as compared to larger metropolitan areas, but we do have our instances of store clerks being killed during a robbery.
I am leaning towards arming myself with a 9mm handgun (concealed, not out in the open). Tracy is in agreement and wants to take classes, including getting her concealed weapon permit. I hope and pray that we will never have a situation in our shop, but you never know when the next crazy person is going to walk in the door. People shoot other people on the Interstate, at the Mall, in the workplace, in high schools and everywhere else now. There was a time when you could pretty much avoid this kind of violence by not walking in alleys at 2:00am, not being involved in drugs, etc. Now it is much more random, and more common.
I have put a great deal of thought into this, and some prayer time as well. I feel that taking responsibility for your own safety is the only way you can insure that you will be defended in a bad circumstance. I think police are great (and I teach my kids to honor and respect them), but I just don't believe they should be our first line of defense.
I'd love to hear any feedback you might have on this topic.
My email is jdanderson-nemos@hotmail.com
I've had a few comments on the apple photo... Here is the color, black & white, and original versions together for comparison. Click on the image to see it larger:
Sol Chavez Engineering finished our plumbing and electrical plans today and emailed me PDF versions for review. The Elec dwgs look good, but the PDF conversion from Autocad did not work for the plumbing drawings. We will get them incorporated into the official two sets, and rout them through Regional tomorrow. We can really let construction rip after that...
I spent the day moving things around in the wood shop. We are going to need lots of space to build cabinets. I'm looking forward to this part of the project. DJ has asked me to post photos of the shop, and of the cabinet making process. I won't have time to do a documentary, or make a how to DVD, but I'll take lots of photos as we go. I'll get some shots of the shop tomorrow and post them...
Tracy set up our phone installation today. They will be onsite Friday to run the lines. We are not really ready for phones yet, but we can't get a phone number secured until the installation and activation happens. We need the phone numbers so we can get business cards and other documents printed.
I worked with Tracy yesterday on a business card design for her. Here is what she likes:
As always, click the image to see it larger...
Tracy and I ordered 13 hard wood chairs, and a few bar stools. I received a call that they have arrived by freight, and will be delivered tomorrow. My computer hardware for the POS system will be here Thursday. Jonah is really excited and wants to help me build it. I'll post a few photos of that process... Of our three kids, Jonah is really into technical things.
Speaking of technical things, I have never taken the time to learn about networking. I set up wireless Internet access at our house (we have five computers on it) and it works fine. As for the shop, here is a diagram of what I want to set up:
I won't go into details, but please let us know if this is possible, if you know about these things... We want to have one cable feed and split to an unsecured wireless network (free WIFI for the shop) and to a secured network (wired) for the POS computer, main office computer, and the credit card processing machine.
Feel free to email me with suggestions or information. Or, just come to Colorado Springs and set it up for me!
Well, it is 11:30 pm and I'm very tired. I have been staying up until midnight or later, and getting up between 5:30am and 6:30. I used to live on 3-4 hours a night on a regular basis. Now I'm old and can't take it as well. I can do it, but I feel more tired than I used to...
Good night to all and God Bless,
JD
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