The hurricane left us alone, the evacuees are returning home, and I don’t even remember what a car alarm sounds like. We’ve had a good run for the last three weeks, it’s been relatively quiet for us in the Lone Star State. Even Cindy Sheehan left. And thanks to a couple of Road Scholars groupies (is there such a thing?), the smoke alarms have become mute…for the most part.
It turns out that some friends of The Road Scholars residing on California’s beautiful central coast had the same problem with late night false alarms. Not only that, but the make and model of detector they have is the exact same make and model as we have. Coincidence? Yes, that’s what a coincidence is: the occurrence of two or more meaningfully related events without any causal connection between them. And if that doesn’t spook you out, ponder this little factoid: smoke alarms are supposed to be vacuumed. No kidding, read it for yourself:
http://www.brkelectronics.com/
With our own problem solved, it was with a little bit of amusement that I listened to someone else’s alarms going off the other night as I watched TV. Of course, my amusement was short-lived. When I turned around to look out the window and saw smoke filling the apartment across from ours, I became downright mad. Jen was at work and I had just sat down with a hot bowl of pasta to enjoy one of my weekly television shows. As I gazed across at the other apartment, I could see thick layers of white smoke but I couldn’t see anyone moving around inside. I felt begrudgingly obligated to put my shoes on and go save the people, then give them a piece of my mind for interrupting my dinner.
Thankfully, as I was putting my shoes on, I saw the lady of the house in her apron walk into the kitchen and start messing with the oven. The apartment was still filled with smoke but the alarms had stopped. I suspect she had probably been trying to figure out how to turn them off which is why I couldn’t see her.
She should have called me.
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