Did I Just Close the Garage Door?

How many times have you pulled out of your driveway, zipped onto the main road and were suddenly beset by worry, "Did I remember to close the garage door?"  How many times have you made that precipitous U-turn or screeched up a side street abruptly turning around in the nearest driveway, muttering how you can't believe you're doing this again,  retracing your route, careening up your street to check once and for all?

I'm willing to bet more times than not you found yourself face to face with the quiet, unperturbed face of your garage door staring blankly toward the street.   Closed.

"What's wrong with me," you mutter for the 1,000th time.  "Why can't I remember whether I've closed the garage door or not?  I'm driving myself crazy!"

Always one for solutions, I have discovered the Craftsman Assurelink Garage Door Opener System.  According to Sears, the "system includes two powerful tools to help deal with that question. With a built-in wall timer, you can set your door to close automatically after you exit, and if you need proof to put a worried mind to rest, Assurelink allows you to monitor and activate your garage door from the web, so whether you’re in Bangkok on business or walled-in by downtown traffic, you can know for certain that your home is safe and secure."  I particularly appreciate that it has a battery backup system which provides up to 20 open/close cycles in the first 24 hours of a power outage.  Now there's a helpful feature when storms or earthquakes knock out power.  No need to pop that heavy door and hope that it gets back on track when the electricity is restored.

If once inside your home you worry that you forgot to close the garage door, you may be a candidate for the  Chamberlain Garage Door Monitor.  Here's a tool that addresses that nagging question, quite helpful if checking requires stairs to see if the door is closed, or if you are prone to obsessing about the answer after snuggling under the covers for the night.  Since our garage is connected to our kitchen and it is very easy to close the door right after entering the house, that side of the equation gives us little to no anxiety.

Or if you favor a low tech solution, feel free to cop mine.  I force myself to stare at the garage door very conscientiously until I see it hit the threshold.  Then I say out loud, the out loud part is VERY important, "The door is closed."  I drive away with peace of mind and never look back.

However, when PH (Perfect Husband, remember?) and I pull out of the driveway, he'll invariably ask me, "Is the garage door closed?"  Weren't we both just looking at it?  He won't be satisfied unless I confidently exclaim that the door is closed, enunciating each word with an exaggeration and dramatic flair fit for the stage.  If I display the slightest reservation or uncertainty because I was distracted or preoccupied,  we're racing back.  He's not taking any chances.

Just so you know, we've never left the garage door open.  Ever.  Keys in the front door lock when we flew to Arizona for a vacation, yes.  But that's another story....


[Disclosure: I have no affiliate relationships with Sears, Craftsman or Chamberlain.  No endorsement of these products should be assumed.  Caveat Emptor!]

[photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/xctmx/1563227897/">A National Acrobat</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a>]