SMOKE?...leads to NOISE!

There is some things that you just don't want to wake up to. The smoke alarm blaring at 112am is one of them! Trust me, I JUST did!

Since I'm blogging at 2am, obviously I'm fine, but Queens is still traumatized (the poor thing).

Tonight I lit some candles to add ambiance to my abode. This was around dinner time. By 8pm I had blown then out AND walked through my house 2x's just to make sure no rooms had any little flames. I was good. Then, right before bed I did one final check. Good to go. No candles in kitchen, powder room, library, den, bathroom, or bedroom.

Well, at precisely 112am I work up to a blaring smoke alarm going off! I had just fallen asleep not long before, and life was good. I had my cat curled up by me, a movie playing in the tv (it puts me to sleep, honestly) and I was heading to the land of Nod. Well, twas not to be a night of zzz's. The alarm was piercing (I guess that is its job). After all of like 2 seconds of the blaring I figure out what it is (my cat had already hightailed it off the bed). I see no smoke or fire as I glance from my bed. I walk to hall and see nothing, but a very slight haze that could have been smoke I guess, or it could have been me being exhausted and startled awake by the noise.

So, I walk to the den, and open up the windows (just in case). My house was chilly already (I refuse to use the heat yet, gotta save money and it isn't that chilly if I wear a sweatshirt and flannel pants) so it wasn't burning down. While the alarm is blaring I quickly do a visual check and make sure nothing is burning down. The electrical outlets weren't burning, and the one candle in the den was definitely out! So then I get a chair and head to the NOISE. It takes 17 LOOONNNNGGG minutes, but I get the alarm unplugged (don't tell the cops). Then I turn on the fan in my bathroom (no smoke or fire there, but I thought I'd turn it on just in case, of what I'm not sure, but I turned on the fan), and then I headed to my bedroom, where I checked and once again no fire, but I can smell a slight smoke scent in the air, so I open those windows. Though that could have been the candle that I blew out hours ago, it has a firewood scent. I then check downstairs and no smoke, no fire, nothing.

No, I don't know what caused the smoke alarm to go off because all things that cause fires and smoke to build up were NOT present in this house. Earlier in the evening I had candles burning, but the ones that died out on their own were doused before I tossed the remains of the wax, as I always do (wouldn't want my trash to catch and burn)and the other one was blown out and checked more than once.

So I'm fine. I tried to hook my alarm back up (like a good, law abiding seminarian) but it kept screaming, so I'll call the office in 6 hours when they open, let them know what went on, and have them come fix the alarm. But at least I know that it works, and it wakes me up (though I'm a light sleeper, so a MUCH quieter alarm would still wake me).

Who knows what went on here. I'm just going to list it under...another day, another interesting event in my life and try to go back to sleep. My house is fine, I'm fine (though I have a massive headache), my cat will be fine (eventually) and I'm going to need an extra blanket on my bed. I figure I might as well leave the windows open, since I don't know what the problem and in case there is any mustard gas, small pox or flying pink spotted octopus viruses in my house that caused it, they can leave!!!

Never a dull moment around here...not even at 115am!

-JLK/PRT-