My wife is calling...I think. Help!

orthobiz · « **on:** 9 Aug 2004, 02:51 am »

I didn't know where to list this but I just can't seem to listen to music when my wife is in the house. Not because it's too loud for her, but because I can't hear her when she calls! And with three kids in a two story house, my listening room in the basement poses a problem.

Now, I have a wonderful wife and family so you can joke all you want to, but someone must have a similar situation and has come up with a good solution that they'll share with me.

BTW, we have a potpourri of phones, corded, 900MHz, 2.4GHz, all different brands, so I don't have an easy paging system set up without buying new phones (we have six already!).

I was basically thinking of some kind of intercom, maybe a 900MHz model? They have intecoms that use your entire house wiring but I think that would be a definite sonic problem with intereference.

I'm unwilling to wear a shock collar, so, any ideas?

biz

Woodsea · « **Reply #1 on:** 9 Aug 2004, 01:30 pm »

Set up a wireless or wired radiowave controlled light in your listening room, that only flashes on when the wife wants you.

Sotantar · « **Reply #2 on:** 9 Aug 2004, 02:16 pm »

Nextel walkie talkies. You could put them on vibrate on your belt clip.

woodsyi · « **Reply #3 on:** 9 Aug 2004, 02:24 pm »

You have three kids. You must still have one of those baby monitors lying around in the house. Just hook it up so your wife can "cry" into it from upstairs. Or keep you cell phone on. I have the same issue and she calls me on my cell from two stories up!

R_burke · « **Reply #4 on:** 9 Aug 2004, 03:45 pm »

Whenever I go into "another place" my wife has me take and turn on a family band walkie talkie. If you're in the basement you might also try having her turn the lights on/off a few times

mcgsxr · « **Reply #5 on:** 9 Aug 2004, 08:17 pm »

I will admit to being on the "light leash" at my place. My system lives in the basement, so she can flick a light on and off that lives just to the right of the listening area - as long as my eyes are open, I can be retreived...

When she is up on the 3rd floor, she pages me using our 2.4ghz phone system.

Mark

MaxCast · « **Reply #6 on:** 9 Aug 2004, 08:38 pm »

Tell her you will be in the basement. If she wants you tell her to come and get you.
BTW, kids make good messengers.

michael w · « **Reply #7 on:** 10 Aug 2004, 04:26 am »

Good exercise for them too.

No chance of them turning into little couchpotatoes if they are running up and down stairs all day.

nathanm · « **Reply #8 on:** 10 Aug 2004, 07:19 am »

Quote from: MaxCast

Tell her you will be in the basement. If she wants you tell her to come and get you.

Holy smokes dude! That idea is SO radical, so out of the box, so utterly ridiculous that it just might work! Where do you come up with these insane ideas Maxcast!? So let me see if I got this straight: You are proposing that the man's wife could actually travel to where her husband is (in the physical realm) and ask him a question!? Like, in person!? That's so mind boggling! Unheard of!

This opens up new frontiers in interpersonal communication technology I can tell you that much. Wow. Amazing work, Maxcast, my hat's off to you. I hope we will be able to hear about the results of this wild and wacky concept. (If anyone is crazy enough to try it that is!)

Musky_Don · « **Reply #9 on:** 11 Aug 2004, 03:22 am »

My advice would be to put a lock on the basement door so you can't be disturbed. Keep a cell pnone on vibrate in case of emergency. Tell her it's your 'cave' - give her the venus/mars book and count your blessings. My 'cave' got destroyed last winter as a result of a bad furnace/frozen pipes while we were on vacation. Now it's under construction and my best equipment is in the living room. I miss my cave - acoustic ceiling, old 80's style rough paneling, 25x30 room, carpet, bar...man that room was great for sound. When I'm done re-building , the cell phone will do it - better yet - tell her to jump up and down on the floor...once for hi, three times for an emergency.

MaxCast · « **Reply #10 on:** 11 Aug 2004, 12:04 pm »

Quote from: nathanm

Holy smokes dude! That idea is SO radical, so out of the box, so utterly ridiculous that it just might work! Where do you come up with these insane ideas Maxcast!? So let me see if I got this straight: You are proposing that the man's wife could actually travel to where her husband is (in the physical realm) and ask him a question!? Like, in person!? That's so mind boggling! Unheard of!

This opens up new frontiers in interpersonal communication technology I can tell you that much. Wow. ...

Actually, it is an ancient art that was lost many years ago. Before the days of melting sand for the transistor boards used in those old cell phones. Even before the telegraph, hell even before the string and sea shell. If this telepathy thing ever works out, it will be lost for good.

viggen · « **Reply #11 on:** 23 Sep 2004, 03:07 am »

Because I am ashamed that I am living with mother, I preface this entry by saying I just RECENTLY moved home and won't be here for long

.

Anyways, I have the whole downstairs to myself and practically live in the designated stereo room. If my mom needs me, and she doesn't wanna walk down stairs, she calls my cell.

It's rather annoying... but works.

rickweed · « **Reply #12 on:** 23 Sep 2004, 02:40 pm »

Hi Biz,

Well, I may not be of much help, but my opinion is when I am "listening", no reason short of a nuclear attack is valid enough to disturb me, but then again, if my wife needs me, she can simply walk to where I am sitting. Yelling "hey you" doesn't work well when the music is playing and I am in my usual trance. Aside from that, my wife is usually listening with me anyway, being an avid music fan also. There are no kids in our house, but the two cats can be awful unnerving when they begin to make racket as Norah Jones is seducing me. Again, I am not of much help, but I hope you got a smile out of what I wrote. Oh, and Biz, I just bought a tuner on Ebay to get me going. It's no big deal, just a Marantz 112 but with a good antenna, I hope to find it to be satisfactory at a cost far far below what the MD's go for. Who knows though, I may be too picky for an inexpensive unit like that. Anyway, keep on listening and good luck with the communication issues.

Rick

jermmd · « **Reply #13 on:** 4 Oct 2004, 09:15 pm »

My brother told me never finish the basement. Unfinished, it will remain your sanctuary. Finished, it becomes your wife's room.

Well, I had to finish the basement for the home theater and it definitely is no longer mine.

If my wife wants me, she flicks on and off the lights from upstairs or sends one of the kids down to get me (usually a sign that I'm in trouble).

Joe M.

orthobiz · « **Reply #14 on:** 5 Oct 2004, 01:38 am »

I'm gonna send my T7 Van Alstine in for the remote volume, this way, if I hear things between songs, I can turn the volume down.

Also, added the music capability through my iTunes on my computer...can also turn things down in a hurry. Life is a bit better!

biz

hmen · « **Reply #15 on:** 5 Oct 2004, 02:16 am »

DO NOT get Walkie Talkies.

We bought a pair and I put it on the coffee table. I couldn't hear it but it would light up when my wife wanted to talk to me. At first it worked just fine. Within a week it was lighting up every 3 minutes. One day the Walkie Talkie disappeared and I wasn't able to find it.

We went back to her flicking the lights on and off from the top of the steps.