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False Alarms
Dec. 23rd, 2003 02:06 pmThe fire alarms went off in my building this morning, a bit before eight. It took me a while to figure out exactly what that racket was - almost sounded like bad speakers. At any rate, I finished dressing for work, if more hurriedly, then stuffed the cat into her carrier and headed outside.
The apartment manager is on vacation, though I must be the only person in the building to know this. Of the few people outside, no one had called either the management company or the fire department. So, whipping out the cell phone, I call the management company emergency number and let them know that the fire alarms are blaring. The sleepy lady on the other end of the phone says she'll send someone over to turn them off. I don't call 911, because by now I'm pretty darn sure that this is a false alarm. I do call work to let them know I will be late.
So, chatting with some of the other residents, several with cats of their own, I discover that this happened yesterday afternoon, as well. Which certainly explains the lack of other residents on the lawn. And yes, it is a false alarm. Either a bad prank, or bad wiring. Either way, I hope they get it fixed soon, 'cause repeated false alarms are only going to cause tragedy later.
My cat, however, was not happy. She can't hear the alarms, so she has no idea why I suddenly shoved her into her carrier and took her outside. She hates leaving my apartment, as in psychotic freak outs for being taken to the other side of my apartment door. I take her to the vet, I have to get tranquilizers in advance. Anyhow, when I get her back into the apartment and let her out of the carrier, she goes and hides in the bathroom behind the tub. She comes out a few minutes later, but she won't let me touch her. At least not until she finds her way back to the food dish. Then I can pet her.
Work, eh. The rest of the week is going to be nuts. Christmas is messing with deadlines all over the place, and while we have sent emails to the people who need to be aware of the deadline changes, a goodly number of them won't bother to read them and will proceed to get pissy when we can't process their orders.
Gotta going the rest of the shopping madness tonight. A few groceries, and trying to find a present for my brother. Harder than you might think - most of his stuff is still in transit from Germany, so I don't know what he needs, and I don't know what he already has. Maybe I'll get lucky.
The apartment manager is on vacation, though I must be the only person in the building to know this. Of the few people outside, no one had called either the management company or the fire department. So, whipping out the cell phone, I call the management company emergency number and let them know that the fire alarms are blaring. The sleepy lady on the other end of the phone says she'll send someone over to turn them off. I don't call 911, because by now I'm pretty darn sure that this is a false alarm. I do call work to let them know I will be late.
So, chatting with some of the other residents, several with cats of their own, I discover that this happened yesterday afternoon, as well. Which certainly explains the lack of other residents on the lawn. And yes, it is a false alarm. Either a bad prank, or bad wiring. Either way, I hope they get it fixed soon, 'cause repeated false alarms are only going to cause tragedy later.
My cat, however, was not happy. She can't hear the alarms, so she has no idea why I suddenly shoved her into her carrier and took her outside. She hates leaving my apartment, as in psychotic freak outs for being taken to the other side of my apartment door. I take her to the vet, I have to get tranquilizers in advance. Anyhow, when I get her back into the apartment and let her out of the carrier, she goes and hides in the bathroom behind the tub. She comes out a few minutes later, but she won't let me touch her. At least not until she finds her way back to the food dish. Then I can pet her.
Work, eh. The rest of the week is going to be nuts. Christmas is messing with deadlines all over the place, and while we have sent emails to the people who need to be aware of the deadline changes, a goodly number of them won't bother to read them and will proceed to get pissy when we can't process their orders.
Gotta going the rest of the shopping madness tonight. A few groceries, and trying to find a present for my brother. Harder than you might think - most of his stuff is still in transit from Germany, so I don't know what he needs, and I don't know what he already has. Maybe I'll get lucky.
