Nothing, but…
So, I tweeted that I’m running two video doorbells right now, one a Ring and one a NEST, err, Google, err… Nest? Whatever… And a friend* (*I say friend, but really I don’t know Ruth, but since #avocadogate I deem her a friend!) asked why my deliveries were so special, and I know she was toying with me, but I thought I might take a minute to a. add some context and b. spend five minutes winding down, just me and my dog, and pen a largely not-important blog post.
P.S… The Ring is on with double-sided tape! don’t @ me with “it ain’t straight!”
Skip back a handful of years, I’d ordered a watch band for my oldest, he was maybe 8 or 9 at the time and had one of those tiny Garmin kids watches, anyways he’d destroyed the band and was excited to get the new band! “Dad, leave it in the mailbox so I can get it out!” sure thing kid… It arrived while he was at school, and I dutifully left it in the mailbox for him to take out when we arrived home… I have a large old steel mailbox, locks with a key, kinda tricky to get into unless you have the world’s slimmest hands, anyways, I’m gone maybe 25 minutes from when I left the package in the mailbox, to going to school, picking him up and heading home… In that time I’d told him “I think there’s a package in the mailbox for you!” he was SUPER EXCITED! (You can see where this is going, can’t you) Some scumbag had been down our street stealing mail at that very 25 minute time-slot! They had used a stick to wedge the package out. I was furious, not because it was an $11 watch band, but because of the lock on my boy’s face… I wanted blood (or at least an apology and the package back ya know) I actually went walking the streets looking for someone - I was quite cross.
Skip forward a day or two and the police had advised they could do zip, and fair play, they had nothing to go on - at all. But dear reader (Hi Ruth, you’ll likely be the only reader, but that’s just fine!) that’s not where the doorbell came from! That’s where my front and rear 4K Hikvision camera system came from! YOu know you see Crime Stoppers “Criminal Evidence Photos” and they look like a hand-drawn caricature of someone with no facial features? I wasn’t having that and had to put in a system that rendered each and every wrinkle.
That was great! Worked well, missed the people that hit my car AND my neighbour’s car, but did catch the guy that jumped the fence and smashed my elderly neighbour’s fence IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY (bright spark that bloke) The one thing it didn’t do though, as it’s mounted up quite high, is allow me to see who actually comes to the door.
This is the Hikvision 4K POE Security Camera - At night. Not awful.
Yeah, so in the example above, someone comes in the gate and then I’ve no idea where they go after that… Not ideal!
The first camera I purchased, the Google Doorbell (AKA The NEST Doorbell) *The irony, it doesn’t work with Google Business Suite and so I had to setup a whole new gmail account and shift all my existing smart devices across to that new email… Really not ideal, but it’s fine… whatever…
Then I had the chance to review the Ring Doorbell 4 for my friend Kevin’s website, DRN and THAT is how I have come to have TWO smart(ish) doorbells on my front door…
I will remove one of them in about two weeks, I’m not 100% sure which just yet… Watch this space, or don’t, that’s ok too.