Our smoke alarms all went off at 3 something am. Why the smoke alarms don’t ever go off in the DAY, I do not know. But we did better this time. We all actually got up and went downstairs, ready to flee the house if there were actually a fire. You see, our smoke alarms all went off in the middle of the night about a month ago, and we all just lay there in bed waiting for someone, and by someone, I mean Dad, to make it STOP. For some reason we’ve gotten complacent in our ‘alarm’ because it seems like something is always beeping or going off in the night. That tends to happen when your house is a ‘beta site’ for home automation. We have automated door locks, some kind of security system, and the whole home automation stuff. And it seems like something is always beeping. So, when the smoke alarms started that piercing SCREECH last time, no one took it seriously. I had to have a talk with the family the next morning and let them know that that horribly loud noise was actually MEANT to wake them all up, and the next time it went off, they should all get out of bed and we should go to our meeting spot, which is outside by the mailbox.
Thankfully, it was another false alarm. I guess after 10 years, it’s time to replace the smoke alarms with newer, more reliable ones. But you can never be too careful, especially after all the recent stories of houses burning like this one and this one.
But even after we had checked every room and found no smoke or fire, I had a terrible time getting back to sleep. The “What ifs” started in, and I began worrying about what if there really WERE a fire, or what if …..
I tend to worry a lot when I’m awakened in the wee hours.
I could hear Ryan sleeping next to me (not snoring, just breathing), but it was still at least two hours before I could fall asleep again.
Such a nice way to start the new year, right?
The kids have had a nice lazy break, but they were getting a little stir crazy because none of their friends were around to play with, and it was SO COLD, we couldn’t really play outside. On New Year’s eve I did finally take them all to a movie (Mega Mind–pretty fun) and then we went out to dinner that night at Chuck-a-Rama, then stopped by the reception of my friend Sam.
On Saturday we had our annual family BINGO party, where we get together, eat a lot of food, play bingo, and play for prizes. It was kind of a small group, just my parents and my sister Amy’s family came, but it was still fun.
You need to get a fire extinguisher every 10-12 years, so check the date, if you have one. And they have some new smoke detectors that also detect heat, so you might update those too. We attended a class where we learned about how smoke detectors can fail you in the time of fire, and about your fire extinguishers need to be where you can get to them readily. A lot of fires start in the kitchen, so you should have one within a few feet of the stove probably. Its good to be prepared. Did Dad tell you he is now the ward emergency preparedness specialist?
Half our smoke alarms have been ripped off their wires in our house, since they kept going off in the middle of the night for no reason. It’s just dust or pollen, or a cobweb or a spider or something. They’re extra sensitive. I guess we are supposed to vacuum them out and put them back, but we haven’t gotten around to that.