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…
this was almost like a scary movie LOL
You are so boring. It is more enjoyable watching P00P go down a toilet.
My plan:
A.) Pillow over head til morning
B.) BB-gun to shoot out smoke detector.
C.) Call repairman to come install a more conveniently located device.
D.) Pat self on back. Order pizza.
Blog Stedman KNOWS that you would have haunted him for the rest of his days if he let go. Or, better yet, you would have used your secret Ninja powers to take him out. 🙂
Might I suggest getting that smoke detector hard-wired? Saves on acrobatics lessons.
I heard the dreaded chirp-chirp while up nursing my newborn son in the middle of the night…nothing I did would make the chirping stop, and then the chirping turned to a scream. FYI: A CO detector is not muffled by being wrapped in a throw rug and put inside a portable cooler. My chivalrous husband told me how to fix it but did not offer to help me do so. Miraculously, the baby slept through it all :).
This is truly a reason to invest in hard wired smoke detectors. No more Chirp Chirp!
Loved your method of “reaching the top”…even though safety planners are cringing! I do stuff like that too, my DH goes crazy.
Pax.
WE have these same types of smoke detectors in our house. Annoying little devils!
Ain’t gettin’ up on anything taller than a chair, nuh-uh, no way, no how. I bow to your bravery and your storyboarding skills.
How would Foolery have fixed it? One rifle, two bullets. One for the chirp chirp, one for the contractor. Just kidding about the second bullet.
I can’t even climb up a step ladder in safe, non-death-inducing conditions, so I am now boggled by your courage.
I am way impressed with your ingenuity and bravery… Especially in the middle of the night. I think I would have thrown something at the thing to make it shut up.