Grumpy from being woken up two nights in a row from "dying battery" alarms from carbon monoxide detectors. In my dreams, everyone turns their head in concern, then I wake up with a start. Ensuing 30-45 minutes of slowly tracking down "where is that beep coming from? is it really this unit or that smoke alarm?". At least replacing the battery fixed it... I was worried maybe there was a real problem since it happened two nights in a row.

But wait! I had typed this into pumpa, decided against sending it, and then just moments later... I hear another beep. And it's not any of the either two alarms! 20 minutes of waiting by every alarm and verifying: it's not in my apartment. I go outside: yup, it's the downstairs' neighbor's apartment.

I check the manual. 1 beep every 30 seconds with a flashing red light is "Sensor or unit malfunction." Well, that was what was happening. It's probably a fluke?

But three... three alarms in 24 hours! And I check the expiration date... not for another 6 years. Are all the batteries going bad at once?

Earlier today I went to the library; one reason was I was getting headaches and I felt like I needed a change of scenery. I figured it was stress... but could it be related?

I stand outside my apartment for 20 minutes with "911" typed into my phone, occasionally hearing the neighbors' alarm beep. Should I call the fire department? I mean, 3 alarms in 24 hours... all carbon monoxide detectors... it's hard not to worry, even though it's not the 4 beep "alarm sound"... but I'm also a notorious worrier... wouldn't be the first time I freaked out about something that's really just fine...

Eventually I get tired of standing outside and hearing "beep" from the neighbor's alarm. I call, explain the situation to the 911 operator, apologizing every minute for a good 10 minutes as we try to determine whether to send out the fire department. At the end I say "no, you probably shouldn't, I'm being an idiot", and he says "yeah, we probably should, let's be safe."

The fire department comes, checks the whole apartment. No carbon monoxide. They reassure me I did the right thing anyway probably, but I still feel like an idiot. We can't wake the neighbors to check, but they seem convinced it's either a battery issue, or some sort of fluke. "The weather does this sometimes," the lieutenant tells me. I hope it's that... that would make me feel a little bit less dumb.