From Chapter One - A Family of Firefighters

After that, Dad became an efficiency expert’s dream. Clothes were carefully laid out on the bureau each night before bedtime. Keys, glasses, and cigarettes were strategically positioned. The most radical idea was yet to come: an automatic garage door opener. Those were unheard of in our neighborhood, but Dad took it to the next level. Most garage door openers, even today, have the button that activates them in the garage next to the car. That wasn’t enough for Dad. He put an additional button in the closet in the bedroom which allowed him to hit the button while getting dressed. The garage door would already be open when he reached the garage, saving a good five seconds. A NASCAR pit crew would be impressed with his speed out of the house. When I was about eleven-years-old, we moved to a new house in a nearby neighborhood. One of the first things wired in was the activation button for the garage door opener in the closet of the master bedroom.