All through the house not a creature was stirring,
Not even a mouse.
No one should be stirring!
It was 2:30 am.
Chirp. Chirp?
I don’t hear anything.
*pause*
*silence*
*keep listening*
*nothing*
Chirp. Chirp?
CRAP.
Where is it coming from?
*pause*
*silence*
*keep listening*
*nothing*
Chirp. Chirp.
CRAP.
Where is it coming from?
*turn on lights*
We spread out to listen.
The chirp. chirp. is not frequent.
The chirp. chirp. is separated from the next chirp. chirp. by at least 90 seconds.
90 seconds feels like 10 minutes at 2:36 in the morning.
We devise a plan.
When we hear the first chirp. we are going to run around to see if we can figure out it’s origin during the second chirp.
There is a lot of running and listening.
There is
very little chirp. chirp. origination identification.
We run.
Chirp. Chirp.
We listen.
Chirp. Chirp.
After
more running and more listening and more chirp. chirp.ing we finally narrowed it down to a smoke detector that we thought might be located near the middle of the house…
There is a smoke detector in the middle of the house in the stairwell!
Let’s sit down and listen.
Chirp. Chirp.
YEAH!
Origination identification completed.
I will go get a nine volt battery to place in the complaining smoke detector…
I will go get a nine volt battery to place in the complaining smoke detector that is on the ceiling
two stories up.
I think I will also get a
ladder.
A tall ladder.
Chirp. Chirp.
That doesn’t look safe.
That doesn’t look
tall enough.
Chirp. Chirp.
Let’s have a strategic planning session at 2:43 am!
It was like one of those
corporate team building exercises.
Without the corporation.
Go team Nirvana!
Get to the top of the 2 story ceiling and replace that nine volt battery in the complaining smoke detector and
learn to trust each other…
Chirp. Chirp.
We planned.
Chirp. Chirp.
We built.
Chirp. Chirp.
We balanced.
Chirp. Chirp.
We overcame…
It took 2 wooden boxes, a large left-over piece of plywood, a 10 foot ladder, Holly’s yoga balance
2 steps above ladder manufacturer’s warning, blog-Stedman’s strong grip and a 9 volt battery to
overcome the complaining smoke detector obstacle.
Go team Nirvana!
Team Nirvana figured it out.
Team Nirvana deserves to go back to bed.
All through the house not a creature was stirring,
Not even a mouse.
No one should be stirring!
It was 3:24 am.
Did you hear a bang?
Yes.
Do you hear a chirp. chirp?
No.
Let’s go back to sleep!
The next morning I looked up and saw this:
That was 18 months ago.
I am not about to get out the
corporate team building exercise for anything but a chirp. chirp.
Oh, and when I DO get out the corporate team building exercise for the chirp. chirp. please remind me to replace that burned out lightbulb…
No one should be stirring!
It was 2:30 am.
Chirp. Chirp?
I don’t hear anything.
*pause*
*silence*
*keep listening*
*nothing*
We spread out to listen.
The chirp. chirp. is not frequent.
The chirp. chirp. is separated from the next chirp. chirp. by at least 90 seconds.
90 seconds feels like 10 minutes at 2:36 in the morning.
We devise a plan.
When we hear the first chirp. we are going to run around to see if we can figure out it’s origin during the second chirp.
There is a lot of running and listening.
There is very little chirp. chirp. origination identification.
We run.
Chirp. Chirp.
We listen.
Chirp. Chirp.
After more running and more listening and more chirp. chirp.ing we finally narrowed it down to a smoke detector that we thought might be located near the middle of the house…
There is a smoke detector in the middle of the house in the stairwell!
Let’s sit down and listen.
Chirp. Chirp.
YEAH! Origination identification completed.
I will go get a nine volt battery to place in the complaining smoke detector…
I will go get a nine volt battery to place in the complaining smoke detector that is on the ceiling two stories up.
I think I will also get a ladder.
A tall ladder.
Chirp. Chirp.
That doesn’t look safe.
That doesn’t look tall enough.
Chirp. Chirp.
Let’s have a strategic planning session at 2:43 am!
It was like one of those corporate team building exercises. Without the corporation.
Go team Nirvana!
Get to the top of the 2 story ceiling and replace that nine volt battery in the complaining smoke detector and learn to trust each other…
Chirp. Chirp.
We planned.
Chirp. Chirp.
We built.
Chirp. Chirp.
We balanced.
Chirp. Chirp.
We overcame…
It took 2 wooden boxes, a large left-over piece of plywood, a 10 foot ladder, Holly’s yoga balance 2 steps above ladder manufacturer’s warning, blog-Stedman’s strong grip and a 9 volt battery to overcome the complaining smoke detector obstacle.
Go team Nirvana!
Team Nirvana figured it out.
Team Nirvana deserves to go back to bed.
All through the house not a creature was stirring,
Not even a mouse.
Did you hear a bang?
Yes.
Do you hear a chirp. chirp?
No.
Let’s go back to sleep!
The next morning I looked up and saw this:
That was 18 months ago.
I am not about to get out the corporate team building exercise for anything but a chirp. chirp.
Oh, and when I DO get out the corporate team building exercise for the chirp. chirp. please remind me to replace that burned out lightbulb…
You are a woman who lives life on the edge!
I knew it was a smoke detector from the very first chirp–I have been on that late night journey myself.
You are one brave gal to climb that ladder.
your ladder thing made my heart race. oh your bravery….
I have also been woken by the dreaded chirp. But ours scares the dog and she barks. Which wakes up our daughter, the insomniac. Who then feels the need to turn on an audio book, loudly.
Three hours later my over-tired snoring wakes up hubs and we begin again! Yay!
PS: Thanks!
Oh holy cow! You absolutely crack me up. Your ladder thing – nuh uh.
Why does the smoke detector always run out of juice in the middle of the night, and why do the contractors always put the thing so high up on a wall or ceiling???
I thought you had another bird in the house there for a while. I thought “OH, this is gonna be fun!” ; ) And it was! Even though it wasn’t a bird…
Holly, that is too funny! I hate that chirp in the middle of the night. And we’ve had them hanging down like that for years!
LOL. Why they would put a smoke detector there…I won’t even ask.
But I’m impressed with your improvisational skills…
Oh, that picture of the arrows all over the place has me laughing so hard – but only cause I’ve been there done that.
A smoke alarm in a place that you can’t get to without a ladder, 2 boxes and a board? Wouldn’t really call that master planning.