The Importance of Reading Your Manuals

It's 5:30 in the morning and it's still summertime and I'm not asleep.

Because the fire alarm went off at 4:15 this morning for no apparent reason, and I have tried unsuccessfully for the last hour to go back to sleep.

Why would the alarm go off for about three or four minutes and then just stop? They're all connected and we each have one in our bedrooms. It was the most piercing squeal you have ever heard. My ears are still ringing. It managed to get John and Melee' out of bed, which is more than any normal fire alarm has ever done, but the Littles managed to sleep right through it. Meanwhile, Charlie and I are racing around the house looking for smoke and finally for something tall enough to turn them off. (First time I've ever cursed the nine foot ceilings.) They seemed to turn themselves off rather than because of anything we might have done. After they turned themselves off, the normally green light flashed red for about ten minutes. By that time we were back in bed. I watched the light, and after ten minutes it turned back to green. In that ten minutes I thought I heard: water running, someone at the window, a light switch flip on, the air conditioner turn on, my bedroom door open...then the light turned back to flashing red and I realized I would have to get up and stand guard against fires and intruders.

So here I am dear readers. It's 5:54 a.m. and I'm wondering how many other things in this house do I not know how to work.