When's The Last Time You Did Something For the First Time?

My marketing research skype call was tonight at 6 pm.
I was at set up at my mom's dining room table at 5:55pm, a little nervous.

At 6pm, the incoming skype sound rings.

Him: Hi, Jane?
Me: Hi. How are you ...

etc

Him: Tell me a little bit about yourself.

I tell him a little bit.

Him: Tell me what you like to do with your spare time.

I tell him. Without embellishing it. I present myself as totally uncool.

Him: Can you tell me about your home?

Haha. I tell him about my lack of home, and my current situation of living in two of my mom's homes.

Him: If you could meet up with anyone in the world and have dinner with them, who would it be and why?

I tell him.

Him: OK then. Tell me a how it came to be that you have a Nest thermostat at your lake home.

Me: Well. The cabin would always be freezing cold when I arrived on Friday nights in the winter, and sometimes it would take all night to warm up. My oldest son has a Nest thermostat at his office and suggested we get one at the lake. He purchased and installed it. Then told me to get the app on my phone. It's my favorite-ist thing this year.

Him: Tell me why you like it so much.

Me: Well, now? When I arrive at the lake? It's warm. That has transformed my Friday nights. I don't shiver all evening, waiting til I warm up before I can do something.

Also? I love that the app is so very easy to figure out/install ... I didn't have to ask my kids for help.

AND? the actual thermostat? Looks sexy on the wall. I never thought I'd have an opinion on the appearance of a thermostat - but I like the look of this one. Kinda proud of it... It looks solid and unbreakable. I still have another old thermostat connected to the gas fireplace and it looks like something poorly constructed from the '60's.

Plus, this one illuminates up when I walk by... (like its happy to see me) just letting me know what the temp is in the house. And I CAN READ THE NUMBERS WITHOUT HAVING TO PUT ON MY GLASSES. The numbers are large enough for me to read at a distance.

And - when I manually adjust the heat,  I just turn the dial. And I can see what I'm doing. (With the old one, I needed to put on my glasses, use the flashlight on my phone, and hold the table lamp a certain way to see what I'm doing because the numbers were so small.) And even then, I often got it wrong. I couldn't see the arrows clearly enough to know what code I was pressing. It was a nightmare I tell you.

An added benefit is that if I'm in bed, and I realize the house is too warm, I don't have to get out of bed and go downstairs to adjust the temperature. I can just pick up my phone and adjust the heat from the comfort of my bed. I am just that lazy.

Him: Would you recommend this product to your friends?

Me: I already have.

Him: In what context? Conversation? How would that come up?

Me: I have a blog. So I would've gone on about it there. Plus I probably mentioned it on Facebook and on Twitter.

Him: Why would you do that?

Me: Public Service Announcement. It's kinda my thing.

Him: If you are going to add more Smart features to your home, how will you go about researching products?

Me: I'll ask my sons.

Him: Are they homeowners? How would they know? Where do they research products?

Me: They are all techy and interested in anything new. And I trust their judgement. And if anyone has discussed it on reddit, they'll know.

Him: But if you didn't have an opinion, or weren't able to help you - where would you go for information?

Me: Facebook. I'll just put it in my status that I'm looking for information. Someone always knows something. I'd google it as well, but I do look for endorsements from people in my life.

Him: You wouldn't say, call the folks who manufacture the items? Like, say, what kind of phone do you have?

Me: An iPhone 6. Just got it last month.

Him: Why'd you chose that make/model?

Me: My son told me they were on sale and I should get it.

Him: Does he have an iPhone 6 as well?

Me: No, he has an android. But his life would be easier if I had an iPhone. Apparently I would be needy and requiring alot of support from him if I had a more complex cell phone.

Him: Who is your service provider?

Me: Telus.

Him: You didn't think to ask Telus what would be the best phone/package for you?

Me: Nope.

Him: Why not?

Me: My kids know me. They know phones. I trust them.

Me: By the way? This only applies to electronics. They are from that generation that just 'knows' this stuff. I know other stuff.

Him:  You mentioned that you might consider a home security system. How will you decide which one to buy?

Me: I'll ask my kids if they have any suggestions. I'm sure they will have heard of anything new.

Him: How old are your kids again? Why would they be knowledgeable about home security systems?

Me: It's a mystery. But they'll know. Especially if it's gadgety and controllable from their phones.



We chat a while longer, making it a total of 36 minutes that we discuss my shopping habits, my parenting skills, my children, my love of my new thermostat. $125 for 36 minutes. I sure hope he didn't hang up and say, "Well THAT was a waste of time. She was useless. Utter nonsense."

So, I get onto the ongoing Facebook chat the kids set up for us. I told them about my experience and Clint mentions that there are lightbulbs with wifi signals that you can control from your phone.

Let me say that again - there are lightbulbs with wifi signals that you can control from your phone.

DO YOU KNOW HOW AWESOME THAT IS?

I will be able to have the front porch light on, waiting for me to arrive at the lake. Now? When I arrive? It's pitch black so I have to use the flashlight on my cell phone, then put it IN MY MOUTH while I struggle with keys and backpack and purse and grocery bags.

If we have wifi light bulbs, I can turn the light on WITH MY PHONE.

This too will make arriving at the lake at midnight less harrowing.

(Yes, I've had motion detector lights installed. They haven't been reliable at all. They worked for a few weeks and then stopped altogether.)

BUT THEN, he shared THIS:




Can you imagine?
I could unlock (and lock) the door from my phone, while sitting in my truck.


I can hardly wait for him to get that set up. I am looking forward to trying it all out. I just love having sons.


Three things I'm thankful for:

1. It was an OK experience, this focus group skype survey thing.
2. I love that I am confident in my kids' knowledge of things. I don't have to second guess/doubt them. I trust them implicitly.
3. I am thankful that, on days when it feels like years of praying for the same thing aren't making a difference/being answered, I am reminded of my lost diamond ring story. He is answering prayers.

And I just KNOW that if He heard a dumb prayer about a bit of sparkly bling, HE totally is ahead of me on the important stuff that I really care about.