After two days of shoveling 6 inches of snow with a half inch of ice on top (because even though the driveway was plowed, there are a lot of areas the plow can’t get to that have to be shoveled) and then unearthing our cars, I went to bed last night wanting nothing but a good night’s sleep. However, at 3:30 am I was awoken by the chirp of a smoke detector. We have a lot of them here because the person who flipped the house installed them and then the previous owner added more that are wired into the security system. There are too many of them.
I couldn’t figure out which one was chirping. After ten minutes, it stopped. I remained awake for another two hours and finally got back to sleep when, at 6:30 am, it started again. This time I waited it out and fell asleep again only to be awakened at 8:10, when it started again.
I’m on my second cup of coffee and I have a lot to do today but you can be sure that I’m going figure out which one of these frigging smoke detectors needs a new battery.
Meanwhile, it’s like Ice Station Zebra out there. Chicago and Michigan, I’m thinking of you. You’re supposed to betting up to 20 inches of snow! Hang in there.
The FedEx guy just came and I opened the door to tell him to be careful – some areas are icy despite my best efforts – and he said he’s seen much worse. Basically when he’s not driving, he’s walking on ice all day long. These guys are heroes. I saw the UPS truck delivering in the midst of the heaviest snow during Wednesday’s snowstorm.
This is all I’ve got for you. The monstera is having yet another baby! My plants have been fairly prolific this winter.
Thank you for all your loving comments yesterday. It was a much tougher day than I thought it would be and I cried off and on all day long. Don had a hard time, too. But your support helped a great deal. Love you all.
Happy Friday.
Chirping smoke detectors might be one of my ideas of hell! I hope you have a good day. The sun is shining here and I’m resting after my too long of a walk in WalMart. I’m OK but really pushed it yesterday. I did get a stuffed Flamingo out of it from my Mom! Smiles!!
I’m glad you got that flamingo!
My son changed batteries in a smoke detector only to have the beep continue. He kept changing batteries thinking it was a bad battery or wrong detector. It kept beeping for several days. They were about to replace them all when they found an old forgotten detector they had taken down and stored in the closet. Made for a good laugh for us but those beeps can drive a person crazy! Good luck!
Even when you ‘disconnect’ them, they can keep beeping.
Those things chirping in the middle of the night do bring an element of madness, don’t they? And they always seem to start ~ in the middle of the night!!
I thought at first you were going to say you heard a BIRD chirping, and I was going to be so excited. I yearly write in my journal on the first morning that I hear a bird chirping outside. Looking back, I have quite a few weeks to go before we hear that. But I was hoping…….
We had a snow event last night. Over 100 schools canceled, including Madison!! That seldom happens. We are a bit north of Madison, and I don’t think we got quite as much as they did. My husband just went out to snowblow and I was wondering what was taking so long. I went through the house looking out windows and saw he had cleared 3 other driveways besides ours. He said it isn’t too cold and not windy, so he was having “fun”. The sun is shining now, so I think it is done here ~ for now ~.
Hope you find your random chirp. As soon as we hear one, we change all the battery operated ones since I think we always do that ~ as we know that they will all start following in a chirping serenade soon enough. Get some rest! And I agree, the post office people and the UPS, Fed Ex, etc. are all heroes to me, also! Have a good Friday.
Why is it always in the middle of the night?
I wish I had heard a bird chirping – though I do hear bird song occasionally when I’m outside and I’m always surprised to hear it at this time of year.
I can’t figure out where the batteries are in some of them, which makes me think they’re hard wired into the system. That doesn’t help!
…gosh, Claudia, sorry it’s been a bit of a hard time the past few days and you’re going to be fatigued today…
…oh, the chirping detectors; maddening; and when it happens, my dog goes absolutely insane…
I am tired, for sure. And I had to take a lot of stop to the recycling/transfer station, and then get some groceries. Also put more salt down and then it started snowing – again!
I am so tired if I awaken during the night and have to get up, even if I am able to go back to sleep. It just is not the same as uninterrupted sleep.
I needed some spring hope yesterday so I went to the nursery and bought two flowering and some green plants. I had fun potting and repotting plants afterward. I do this every February; it is the only way that I can make it through the winter. Next week I will go to the St Paul Conservatory where it actually feels like summer!
Good for you! Green things help at this time of year!
Chirping smoke detectors are a torture device! I have two that are too high for me to reach, even with my extension ladder. I’ve heard the fire station will send firemen to a senior’s home to change the batteries. I’ll have to remember that service when I get there…
I don’t think our fire station will do that – they’re all volunteers.
We change all of our smoke alarm batteries religiously, usually around Christmas or the first of the year, but there is always that ‘ONE’ bastard alarm that seems to go off in the middle of the night once a year or so. They are a necessary evil, but I sure wish they were better designed to stop making noise at night in the middle of the year!! That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Sorry you lost sleep over your alarm. Not fun!
I wish they were better designed. I’ve looked at some of them and can’t figure out how to access the batteries. It’s making me crazy.
oh, i hope you find the source of the chirping and it’s an easy fix.
as you know, i moved last summer (very happy about that). about a month ago, i woke to that awful chirping but found a pleasant surprise … for these smoke detectors, the battery is in the screw-off lid, not the piece that is attached to the ceiling … so for a shorty like me (5’2″), that means i don’t have to stay up on top of a stool, stretching to try to get the old battery out, then remember which way the terminals go and get the new battery in the right way, all on my tiptoes. i can make the switch easier and more safely and be on my tiptoes just long enough to remove and put on the lid. :)
i am sorry that yesterday was tough for you, between missing your precious scout and all the shoveling and ice. hope today is not only easier, but fun for you. and i hope don can get home sunday and monday for both your sakes.
i am happy that a couple hours ago i bought tickets for my sister and me to hear jimmy again at wrigley field in july (with boz scaggs opening) … yay!
kathy in iowa
Oh…yes…chirping alarms….always at night…why? As Chris said…we had a snow event. Looks to be about 6 inches. And we have a wonderful neighbor! She did our sidewalks, we live on a corner, and our neighbors on either side…surprise. All Hubby had to do was the front walk and the driveway. What a treat!
I’ve noticed that I have quite a few plants that are constantly sending up new shoots. That is unusual…most of the time that doesn’t start until late March. We seem to have brighter light this year….wonder what’s going on?
Hopefully, the snow is done for you for a bit…and you can relax. Now…if only it would warm up! ;)
Always at night.
I wonder what’s going on, too. My plants keep sending up new shoots. I thought they might go dormant, but they haven’t.
It snowed again this afternoon – about 1/2 inch. Rain tomorrow.
Hope you find that chirper, Claudia. That’s an annoying sound, for sure, and unlike any bird I’ve ever heard. Here we aren’t dealing with snow, just way, way too much rain. The upside is that you don’t need to shovel it, but things here are very soggy and gray. Hugs to you in your dear dog’s memory; we lost one of our kitties last fall and miss her a lot.
Thank you so much, Judy. I’m sorry about the loss of your kitty. xo
I hope youv’e figured out which smoke detector it was; sounds like a hellish night. We’re getting clobbered here too. Snow and freezing rain (the scariest of all).
Stay warm.
I haven’t. And it hasn’t chirped again today. So I’m still baffled.
Oh, dear. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?
What are you thinking?
I’m just hoping you won’t have a repeat performance.
I didn’t!
Sleep deprivation, whatever the cause, is not fun. The older I get, the harder I find it to sleep continuously through the night. Exhausting when you have to get up to drive to work. On another subject, this morning I read the NY Times piece on Jimmy Buffett and his show. It’s wonderful. I confess that, until I read it, I knew next to nothing about the man (not even the proper spelling of his name) other than he owns some restaurants. Really well written piece about a musician who figured out how to make it all work. So, I may make it required reading for my professional musician youngest son :-)
It was a great piece, wasn’t it? So interesting. Some of it I knew, but much of it was new to me.
It was a great piece and it was lengthy, too. Yet it didn’t even touch on his children’s books and others. There must be more that didn’t get mentioned. The man is a machine!
I’m sure there’s more. Like his retirement community for those over 50 somewhere in Florida. And all the restaurants. And on and on.
That chirping of a smoke detector can be quite annoying. Hope you can a get a better nights sleep tonight.
Marilyn
I did, thank you!
We had our first snow day in Chicago, I wondered how much snow would have to fall to shut the school, the answer was a lot. I was very glad I had bought an electric show shovel for our pavement clearance duties.
Good for you! Here in the country, the schools have to close when there’s 4 or 5 inches falling because the rural roads are treacherous and everyone gets to school on the bus.