Wednesday, June 16, 2010

The Witch Is Dead? Oh, no, it's just someone at the door.

So the other day, when I put these White Stripes lyrics atop the blog:

"I'm thinkin' bout my doorbell. When ya gonna ring it? When ya gonna ring it?"

I had no idea I would actually be buying a doorbell. But there it is, next to the back door and the front door, a little wireless doorbell that sounds a ringer that it turns out you can't hear unless your in the same room with the ringer. So I should put it in the computer room, which was the point of the whole exercise -- to have some signal for Kathy to use when she gets home from work and I've let the ferrets run around the family room, so that she can't safely open the back door. Knocking on the back door simply isn't loud enough.

She's even called me on the phone, once, in fact. Which would have worked, if I hadn't've been in the shower at the time. Had we a dog, I would have been in its house.

Anyway, new doorbell! Which plays all sorts of little tunes, generally off-key! One problem, though: It just doesn't have character like this one:



I look at this doorbell, and wonder what the hell the welcome mat looks like.

Anyway, just for grins (because there's little hope of it actually settling Kathy's and my disagreement on the matter, and besides, it is where it is, and inertia's a powerful thing): What height should a doorbell button be? I looked online to see if I could settle it (thinking of course I was right, I just needed proof), and it turns out that opinions vary. Which, given that among our small sample of two, opinions varied, I probably should have guessed. So what's your preference?

Also, see the poll at right.(Poll text reproduced in the comments, since it seems to be working intermittently at best.)

Rob

7 comments:

Travis said...

Well, your poll is down, boss. My thoughts on doorbell height? Never had any, and if I did ponder what height a doorbell should be for any length of time I would try to find a new hobby. Like watching grass grow.

How about almost to ground level? That way if your arms are full you can kick it so someone will open the door for you. Its a million dollar idea I tell ya.

Rob S. said...

It's back up, I think.

Three apples high, like a Smurf!

Rob S. said...

Nope, looks like it's down again. Weird.

Dave said...

weiner height, so you can ring it with your hands full. (as long as you've planned ahead and you're not a girl)

Rob S. said...

In case the poll never comes back up, here are the options:

Is There Anything To Be Gained By Even Asking About Doorbell Height?

* A fleeting, costly I-told-you-so
* No, only woe.
* More than woe. Calamity. Turn back!
* The amusement of my friends at my grief.

So far, Woe and Amusement have one vote each.

Rob S. said...

For posterity's sake, the results are a tie between

* No, only woe.
and
* The amusement of my friends at my grief

Anonymous said...

Was I the only one to answer, "A fleeting, costly I-told-you-so?"

Yeah, that was me.

Mrs. Rob S.