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2:44 A.M.

  • Aug. 24th, 2010 at 3:17 AM
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kls_eloise
That's what time the carbon monoxide detector downstairs decided that it wanted new batteries.  NOW.  The  batteries have been changed, and I even went back to bed.  Unfortunately the adrenaline dump that comes with hearing one of the detectors doing something out of the ordinary at 2:44 am is still with me.  I figure it should wear off just about as my alarm clock goes off.  It's going to be a really peachy day.

The rest of my family is still sleeping peacefully, as they did through the whole sorry thing.  They are not my favorite people right now.

Comments

( 19 comments — Leave a comment )
kass_rants
Aug. 24th, 2010 08:24 am (UTC)
I feel your pain.
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kls_eloise
Aug. 24th, 2010 12:20 pm (UTC)
It's going to be a really, really long day. Heaven help anyone who crosses me today.

I did actually get back to sleep - and had a terrible, initially very realistic nightmare about the house collapsing and needing to find the cats and make sure they were okay. The alarm went off as it was turning... odd.

Not the kid, mind you - the cats. :-)
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lillyflowers
Aug. 24th, 2010 12:07 pm (UTC)
Oh I HATE getting startled awake! Cafeine, it's your friend in times like these. :)
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kls_eloise
Aug. 24th, 2010 12:24 pm (UTC)
Awful. And there I am in my glasses and bare feet trying to figure out if it's the CO detector or the smoke detector. If it's the smoke detector, no worries it just wants batteries. If it's the CO detector, I need to figure out if it's batteries or an actual warning. This is way more cognition than I was really prepped for. Trying to read the instructions on a beeping alarm at not-yet-3-in-the-morning wasn't very easy.

I've been trying to reduce my caffeine consumption just on general principles, but today is not a day for moderation.
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lillyflowers
Aug. 24th, 2010 12:27 pm (UTC)
I hear a hammer, applied in a judicious fashion, makes short work of quiets a CO detector. The downside is replacement costs. ;)
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kls_eloise
Aug. 24th, 2010 02:19 pm (UTC)
I wonder if a boot would have worked? Because the hammers are down in the basement.
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lillyflowers
Aug. 24th, 2010 03:10 pm (UTC)
Possibly. I think a high heel would be better though. ;)
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oocdc2
Aug. 24th, 2010 12:37 pm (UTC)
I wonder, though, if an awake, cranky Charlotte would have helped the situation. (Especially if she would then want to play, like my girls do.)

I hope the battery lasts a long, long time. :^)
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kls_eloise
Aug. 24th, 2010 02:20 pm (UTC)
The last ones did, so I have great hopes for these.

I'm pretty sure that Charlotte could have been coaxed back to sleep with very little effort. She's a champion sleeper. Thank God.
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safiya_shirazi
Aug. 24th, 2010 01:50 pm (UTC)
Our carbon monoxide detector went off at about the same time on our first night in here. The fire department showed up and after checking the house (thoroughly, mind you - the Braintree FD does a great job) informed us that they actually HATE the carbon monoxide detector law because they are CONSTANTLY malfunctioning, resulting in false alarms. At least yours actually needed something!
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kls_eloise
Aug. 24th, 2010 02:29 pm (UTC)
Interesting on a number of counts. Are yours hardwired? If we have a law, I'm unaware of it - I have them because they came in a pack with two smoke detectors. If you read the instructions, there actually isn't any place in my house that I can install them that complies with so many feet from an exterior door or window, so many feet from any combustion device, not in an area of stangnant air, etc., etc. I'm in a center chimney cape with a fireplace in the living room, fireplace in the dining room, and woodstove in the kitchen. Windows all around.

But yes, it did actually need something. Although why it couldn't have needed it five hours sooner or later is beyond me. It seems to be some sort of law of the universe.

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(Deleted comment)
kls_eloise
Aug. 24th, 2010 02:30 pm (UTC)
It was less the awakening than the adrenaline rush. With our ongoing chimney project, there was just enough of a possibility that it was a real alarm to get all the blood flowing.

Blegh.
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merimask
Aug. 24th, 2010 02:09 pm (UTC)
But you are a hero, and have saved your family for another season. ^_^ That's what moms do.

Our detectors are wired into the house's electrical system so I don't have to do batteries. Of course, if there is a power outage AND a fire, perhaps I'm screwed?
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kls_eloise
Aug. 24th, 2010 02:34 pm (UTC)
That's always been the thing that has baffled me about the idea of hardwired detectors. On the other hand, I suppose that the idea of needing the detector during an outage is probably less likely than that of your average over-busy person not changing the batteries. I'm not very good at remembering, and I'm generally pretty conscientious about things like that.

But this morning, I'm just really, really tired.
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bigbrotherinlaw
Aug. 24th, 2010 06:14 pm (UTC)
When we semi-finished a room in our basement (it was supposed to be my office) and had an electrician wire it, he included a hardwired smoke detector that is right now chirping because it needs a new battery.

The humanity.
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galingale
Aug. 25th, 2010 04:33 pm (UTC)
Gawd I feel such a geek....guess where *I* work...
There's usually a battery backup even in the hardwired ones.
Theory being the battery will last a very long time because it will only be used during times when the power goes out.
But batteries will even die on the shelf, so...don't install them where you can't reach them with a ladder.

Chance for needing a detector during an outage goes up with fireplaces and candles, goes down if you're totally electric-furnace-heat.
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galingale
Aug. 25th, 2010 04:34 pm (UTC)
PS dont' know about the boot or hammer, but a flyswatter can set off some smoke detectors.
Ask my old boss how he found out... yep. the building was evacuated.
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kls_eloise
Aug. 26th, 2010 05:37 pm (UTC)
And a badly thrown football can set off the sprinkler system. That building was evacuated too...
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pippagrey
Aug. 28th, 2010 06:01 pm (UTC)
I know from experience that boiling water can set off some smoke detectors. And so can bug bombs - we had a smoke detector wired into the home security system and found out the hard way that the Norfolk VA fire department had a less than 5 minute response time which was rather comforting if embarassing. Brinks hadn't warned us about that and we hadn't thought to call them to tell them what we were doing, so when the system went off and we didn't answer the phone (because duh! we were outside at the time) they called the cavalry.

And I had to fight the architects in my current space since they were quite insistant that code required that the tops of my rolling shelving be at least 18 inches below the ceiling to allow the sprinkler system to work. The sprinkler system which was not required and was therefore not installed lo these many years ago when this building was built.

I eventually won.
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( 19 comments — Leave a comment )