How to summon help?

[Marc]

The cordless phones we have now came as a set of four handsets from Staples, with a rebate equal to the price. That was a loss leader to use their long distance phone card. Anyway, each handset can call any other, or all at the same time. So if my wife ever needs me to come in to fix the project she started, she can make a quick internal call to the phone labeled "shop". We've only had the phones a short time, so I haven't been summoned yet. But I know the day is coming

[son_of_bluegrass]

If things go wrong, I've got 3 choices. first get out of it myself, 2nd die trying or lastly get lucky and someone comes along. I spend most of my shop time alone when there is no one else around (often the only time i can get), spotty cell signal (no signal much more common than signal even though about 3/4 mile up the road full signal) and I never think to grab a cordless from the house (assuming one is charged). That is the way it is.

ron

[jayco]

My shop is more than a hundred yards from the house and I work alone most of the time. This might be a good time to run a phone line out there or use the little 2-way radios we got for Christmas a couple years ago. I guess anything would be better than just hoping they would come looking for me around suppertime!

[Leah]

Like Marc, I have the cordless handsets with the intercom in the shop and house.

[Marc]

The cordless phone set I have now reaches easily to my mailbox, maybe 150 ft. away, but I haven't tried going down the street. My previous one reached over 100 yards before fading out. This is on a pretty woodsy street, but my house is up a small hill. Terrain has a big effect on range.

I did a quick Google search on long-range cordless phones and they have some that'll reach over 5 miles. But they're pricey - around $600. You can run a lot of phone wire for that. Home Depot has it for $200 for 1000 ft.

Personally, I would prefer anything connected directly to my phone line over a 2-way radio or even a cell phone. Like Mr. Bluegrass, I spend enough time alone at home that a 2-way radio would have nobody on the other end. And cell phone coverage is not reliable. And as for cell phones, I'm not sure what the status of wireless 911 is in my state, NH. A call to 911 from a cell always works to get to emergency services, but if I can't talk, can they locate me?

This is one of those things I don't really lose sleep over, but it is worth the few minutes to think it through. And since the phones were essentially free, it's a no-brainer. All I need to do is remember to clip it on my belt. I'm just at the point where the safety glasses have become habit most of the time.

[Candidquality]

Any new phone sold after 2003 can locate you to within 3 feet once you press" 911". This can also be turned on remotely by the police if needed. All it requires is for your phone to be on. Rare case where this will not work is when there is not more than one tower within range. Cell phone will hopefully work for me if it didn't get damaged when I do.

strange question but: Does anyone wash their working clothes with borax for it's fire retardant properties?

[ThomasPowers]

You can soak a cloth work apron that way but in a regular wash the borax is rinsed out. if you soak your clothing in it it is a bit harsher on the skin.

So what if there are *no* cell towers around? Lots of places like that out here. Of course I don't own a cell phone either...

[Brian C.]

I work in the attached garage so I have the regular phone line out there, plus my cell phone, and lastly I put in an intercom system going to the kitchen. Not so much for safety as for summonming fresh iced tea. :-)

[Marc]

Yeah, all the phones have the GPS receiver, but it still requires the local emergency services to have the equipment to access it. Your state may or may not have gotten around to it. But if you're not near a cell tower, or you have crappy reception (like me), you're still out of luck.

[habu68]

A man who lived next door to us at the farm had a three legged pig that followed him every where. It twice saved his life. Once, his tractor tipped and pinned him to the ground, the pig ran to the house and raised such a ruckus that the good wife followed the pig to the field and extricated her husband. The other time a spark from the wood stove started a fire on the rug in the living room late at night, the pig smelling smoke, began running around the outside of the house, squealing and woke everyone in the house, so that the rug was the only thing damaged.

Now, you may ask why the pig only had 3 legs, to which the farmer would reply, "a pig like that you would not want to eat all at once."