Friday Night Fire Follies

My wife and I went out to dinner tonight. Just the two of us. Something that doesn't happen too often. Our kids are old enough (16 & 14) and responsible enough that we feel comfortable leaving them home alone. The neighborhood is pretty safe, and both of the kids have their karate black belt, so we don't worry about their safety. But between their activities and our schedules we don't get a whole lot of 'couple time,' so when we do get an opportunity we treasure it.

So like I said, we went out tonight. We were in the middle of a nice meal at a decent restaurant (no drive thru window, wine list, etc.) when my wife's cell phone started making noises. All at once she had voice mail, an incoming call, and a call waiting. (My cell was at home. I hate carrying the damn thing around, so when we go out she takes hers and I leave mine in its cozy little charger cradle, where both it and I prefer it to be.)

Turns out our home alarm system went off, claiming there was a fire somewhere in the house. We've drilled the kids on what to do, so they went outside, then very cautiously went back in and checked each room looking for smoke or flames. Nothing.

The calls were from our son, the alarm company, and the VFD. After we sorted through everything and made sure it was a false alarm we tried to recapture the ambiance, but it was a lost cause. So we got doggie bags, chugged what was left of the wine, and headed for the casa.

What evidently happened was that enough dust had collected in one of the smoke sensors to diffuse the photoelectric beam and trigger the alarm. We usually clean the dust out of the smoke alarms every six months, when the time changes and we change the batteries, but I guess we forgot this year. So that's on the to-do list tomorrow, along with baking cookies for the VFD guys. 

I keep tellin' that woman she needs to stay on top of her housework...