This morning when we were getting ready, I walked by the bathroom door and the most terrible high-pitched electronic voice which said something like "Your batteries are low!" almost made my heart stop. Leif and I looked at each other and then tried to figure out what on earth made that noise. We figured it was our smoke detector but we were in a rush so we didn't think much of it.
When we got back from lunch it did it again, so Leif brought the ladder upstairs to take the dumb thing down. He tried to clean it with bleach because it's turned yellow from the sun or something and then put it back up with no battery in it.
It gave us a couple hours of peace until after Leif left for his hockey game - go figure! Then it started going off like there was a fire and it would not shut up. I had a complete meltdown when I couldn't get the ladder open to get up there. There were little kids outside and they were saying "Oh is the firetruck coming now?" so I was sure the whole complex could hear it!
Luckily Leif was still getting dressed in the change room so he told me how to open the ladder, but when I got up there I couldn't figure out how to disconnect the wires. By this time I was in sheer panic and bawling. Yes, I guess I'm not good under pressure. With Leif still on the phone, we tried the fusebox or whatever it's called but, of course, there was no switch that said "smoke detectors".
Leif said that I should go ask our neighbours for help but with the state I was in, that was not a good idea. Finally, with the phone tucked on my shoulder and precise instructions we got the thing to shut up. Hopefully it's just broken and we don't have a gas leak. Leif took the thing for a walk to the local fire station when he got home (which was empty) and it was still acting up, so we think there's just something wrong with it.
I hope that NEVER happens again!!
