After work I went to Jen's house. At 10:15pm I called Joe to see if he got home from work alright. He did, but the carbon monoxide detector in our apartment was beeping every few minutes. I told him to jostle it around because that usually worked and if not replace the batteries. It was probably not a big deal. He agreed and said if it was our chinchillas and hamster would probably have been dead by then. So he opened up a few windows just in case.
Now the time was 11:30pm and I was starting out for home. Jen had packed me a plate of cookies and cupcakes that she had made the other day (remember this because this is important). I call Joe and see if he got dinner and if he wanted anything. He told me his order and started going off that he's been cleaning the apartment like crazy (remember this, too) because we'd probably have to call the fire department since the thing was still going off and it doesn't have batteries so that couldn't be the problem. He also stated that he couldn't get ahold of his mom or Mel (who happens to be a fire fighter and EMT) and that not only did our vacuum break, but the handheld wasn't doing much of anything. So he's stressed and now I'm stressed.
I called my parents and told them I'd be over to pick up their vacuum (they live a block and a half away from my apartment). On the way home I stop at Joe's mom's house (because she lives on the way home). Luckily she was up a few minutes before and just heading back to sleep. I told her the situation and was on my way. I picked up the vacuum, got home, and started to help Joe clean (who happened to be on the phone with his mom). Then the time for the call comes.
I call the fire department. I literally state that it's not an emergency, but that our carbon monoxide detector is beeping sporadically and that we just think we need a new one. He takes my information down and says they'll send someone. The fire house in our town is, no joke, a two minute walk away, so if our house was on fire they could look out a window and see it. I then ask, because I'm considerate of neighbors, if there will be "sirens and lights"? I tell him that I prefer to not have that seeing as it's now midnight and people are sleeping. He says "I can't promise anything." Great! He then tells me to evacuate everyone who lives there. So I pack up the chinchillas and start to head out. The minute Joe and I get to our front door, the fire alarm goes off. I was so excited, let me tell you (not!). We get outside and stick the carrying case with Navi and Faye in my car.
First cop car pulls up. Then the second one. We talk to them. They tell us that the renter above us has to be evacuated, too. I now feel horrible for calling the fire department. Then the best part ever comes. Lights and sirens. An ambulance pulls up and a mini fire truck does as well. The landlord comes out. We explain what's going on. We accompany everyone inside and tell them what's going on. Joe and I stand in front of the chinchilla cage (which still towers over us) so as to hopefully avoid the landlords eyes when he's checking out the unit in our room. Crisis adverted! He's eyes don't even travel our way. Joe thinks he saw it but didn't make a deal out of it because of everything going on at the time. We make our way back outside.
Being the nice person I am, I go out to my car and now grab the goodies. As I'm walking across the street to come back, I notice that the reverend who lives next to us has his upstairs lights on and his curtains asker. Nosey little jerk. I'm sure he'll complain, again, that we disturbed his sleep and we're bad neighbors, but I digress. I offer the baked goods to everyone outside my house. Ed, the upstairs neighbor, takes a cupcake and is talking to us. Everything is actually fun. We're talking and laughing. Then comes the fire chief. He says everything is clear, it's just the unit (which we said). However, we need to tidy our apartment. If the inspector came through we would have had a citation because a mattress could have fell on them (we got a new bed and we are going to give the old boxspring and frame to Jen). Also that the boxes in the basement is a hazard. I'm sorry, I though basements were used for storing unused items in boxes? I guessed wrong. We have 30 days to clean up. Awesome.
After that, I made some tea (vanilla chai <3). Joe and I played Gears of War with our friends then went to bed. However, Michael offered to come over and help us clean a couple of days. He's such a nice guy. <3
So now I'm off to Pizza Hut with the gang and then work. So I leave you with some nice pictures of my thoughts on fire fighters:
"He can come over ANY time."
"But he can go to my sister's."
No comments:
Post a Comment