last night my carbon monoxide detector started making noise. at first i thought i was going to have to call 911 and go stand outside in my bathrobe or something, but then i read the thing and it said that when it chirps every 30 seconds that means it needs new batteries, not that i'm in mortal danger.
for the first time in my life that i can remember, i actually had some batteries in this place that fit. and so, after writing the previous discombobulated and completely ill-thought-out post, i was awake again around 4am trying desperately to pry the battery compartment open on my carbon monoxide detector as it blasted absolutely deafening sounds into my ear every 30 seconds.
david, it reminded me so much of our smoke detector woes in providence that i almost called you.
you see, when david and i lived in providence we had a building full of smoke detectors that were wired into the building's power and there was a month or so that at least 3 times a week they would all simultaneously begin to chirp as if their batteries were dead, and there was nothing we could do to stop them other than rip the things right out of the ceiling. but of course, that's not consistent with firecode so we didn't dare.
you can learn to sleep with 12 smoke detectors chirping around you at unpredictable intervals, if you're tired enough. why does that strike me as such a telling statement?
What the hell is a carbon monoxide detector? You people have to live with some scary shit!
ReplyDeleteI recently went to Tasmania (which is the little island off the bottom of Oz) and they have the cleanest air ever. Breathing was like the best drug you could get...amazing.