***The Alarm Bell in the Night***

[CaliforniaPeggy]

A True Story.........

We have a whole house alarm.......and we set it every night before retiring......

Well........

Last night, the winds were howling like a bunch of banshees.......

With some unusually strong gusts.....out of the Northeast, too......

At about 3:45 AM, I was awakened by our alarm going off......

Wailing sirens and all that......

It said on the little screen.....front door and garage pedestrian doors ...

We shut it off and went downstairs to look......

All was quiet (except for the wind) and locked up......

Everything was secure........Except us........

This morning, we figured out that the wind had collided so strongly with our front door that it had moved just enough to trigger the alarm......

Oh my god.......it was so freaky.......Never in our five years here have we had such a thing happen.....

:scared:

[Broken_Hero]

1. I'm glad that you are safe, and everything is okay

Peggy...Tam and I live out in the country, and any little noise usually sets off my radar/norad defense system...

The last incident we had...it was a possum, trapped in our rather large garbage bin....

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Ah, my dear petersond.............

I thank you......We are glad to be safe too!

A possum? We have those here, but I haven't seen one in a while.....

[Broken_Hero]

6. Yep, a possum

we got quite a bit of wildlife around us...

To make a short story short...

Late at night, while laying in bed, I heard something outside, which sounded like plastic being dragged across our driveway...the wind was kicking, and I thought perhaps, the wind was pushing around some of Tammy's empty water buckets...but the sound, was too...sustained, and not random...

So, I go outside with old trusty, and my huge flashlight to investigate...could find nothing, heard the sound no more...so I go back inside, and go to bed...

Next night...it was late, I was lying in bed, and again, I heard that same sound, like someone rubbing an empty plastic milk jug across pavement...I grab old trusty, and the flashlight again, and go investigate. When I get to your carport, I saw our trash can moving...but when I put my light on it, the movement stopped...

I creep closer...closer, and peer inside...a possum was trapped inside...I think for a few moments, put old trust off to the side, and kick the trash can over...possum doesn't leave the can....I kick the bottom of it a few times, still, the possum refuses to scamper off...

I turn the garbage can upside down, and then pick it up, expecting the possum to fall and scamper away...nope...damn thing is still inside, and at this moment, I'm thinking of Bugs Bunny cartoons. I put the can down...and then kick it over again...and finally the bugger flee's....:D

[CaliforniaPeggy]

9. What a terrific story!

I can just see the events unfolding!

Um...but what is old trusty? It sounds like a gun.....

And I'm sure you need it out there......

Thanks for sharing your story tonight! :hi:

[Broken_Hero]

12. Yeah, old trusty is a

firearm....I got a few more stories, but I'll probably save them for later....:D

[CaliforniaPeggy]

16. I will look forward to seeing them! (N/T)

[cwydro]

3. Wow, Peg

That is scary. Been through the winds before, but the alarms would be a whole nother thing.

You oughta write a poem about it...your post was kind of poetic already.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. My dear cwydro.........

It was scary!

The wind we are used to......but not the alarm!

Especially when you're dead asleep!

I'm thinking 100,000 loud alarm clocks.......:scared:

Thanks for the good thought....maybe I'll work it into a poem! :hug:

[cwydro]

8. Seriously

with the banshee thing...and the winds and oh yeah...you should go for it...I like the way you write.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

11. Thanks, sweetie........

Your praise makes me smile......:hug:

[cwydro]

20. Good.

You have a very pretty smile.

[JackBeck]

4. I would have been freaked out, too.

The only alarm we have here in the condo is one that goes off when cooking burgers. It's an ear-screeching beep (cats go scattering) with a woman calmly saying, "Fire. Fire." Freaked us out the first time we heard it.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. My dear JackBeck!

Oh, yes, we have smoke alarms too......I'm very careful when cooking anything smoky!

It took me a good half-hour to settle down enough to go back to sleep!

:hi:

[JackBeck]

14. I would have needed a nice scotch to calm me.

But I'm happy to hear to you are safe and sound.

:hi:

[In_The_Wind]

10. It's a good thing you weren't Home Alone!

I know I would have been unnerved. Miss Frodo's good company but she couldn't protect me or calm me down. She was frightened by a little gecko the other night! It took hours for her to get over it.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

13. My dear Joani!

You know, I was thinking the same thing....

I hugged my husband when we got back into bed, and said something about feeling safe there...with him......

And he said, safety is an illusion.......He's right, of course...

Then I said, but love isn't.......

He agreed.

Sorry about Miss Frodo......I'd probably be a little freaked out by a gecko too......

:hug:

[salin]

15. on a gd thread about unusual winters...a no cal-er

described the lack of rain during raining season... but the unusual presence of rain. Certainly fits the situation.

In the five + years that I lived ont he Pennisula - I really have no memory of consistently windy days. Maybe those years were the exception - but it sounds like it is one more experience of really odd weather patterns.

Glad you are okay and that it was just a psyche-out discomfort rather than something more serious or damaging to you, your family or your home.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

17. My dear salin!

We've had strong winds before....but none this strong...

I usually don't give them a second thought, as the house is strongly built!

But our front door is 8 feet tall, and the latch is not even half-way up.

We will most likely add an inside dead bolt to secure the door further up...

To keep this from happening again, ever!

And thank you.....we are indeed fine! :hug:

On edit: the door is 8 feet tall, not 10 feet...

[Haole Girl]

18. I know how that can scare a person.

Our alarm systems will go off, sometimes, when triggered by thunder and/or lightening. It's happened a couple of times now.

Glad it wasn't anything serious, Peggy! :hug:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

19. My dear KC2!

It was so damn freaky!

We won't have so much trouble if it ever happens again.......

And we're going to fix the front door to make it more solid against any wind gusts..........:scared:

I'm glad it wasn't anything serious either......:hug:

[SPKrazy]

21. Wow, That's Some Series Wind!That's HUGH!!!1111!!!!

that does sound pretty freaky Peggy. I'd have been scared too!

I probably wouldn't have gone to sleep for a while for checking everything out.

Do you have a dog?

:hug:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

22. My dear Southpawkicker.......

No, no dogs or pets for us, these days.....

We did take a few minutes to check out the entries that were supposed to have been breached...

And they were all secure......

We think what happened was that the wind came around the corner of the house and blasted the door with extreme ferocity.....

Causing the top of the door (where the alarm is) to jiggle just enough to set the alarm off!

We're OK......thanks, sweetie.... :hug:

[Nicole]

23. Glad you're o.k.

:hug:

I've had my alarm go off in the middle of the night before & it is scary as hell when you're sound asleep.


Do you have storm doors? That would probably keep the wind from jiggling your entry doors. We get so much wind here that I have them on all my doors. They help with insulation too.

[SPKrazy]

24. ...

I could protect you in the middle of the night when your alarm goes off you know.

I know Kung Pao, and Egg Fu Young

I could kick some butt!

;-) :hug:

[Nicole]

28. ....

Where the hell were you then? :mad:


:rofl:

:hug:

[SPKrazy]

30. I Was Lost Without You !

and probably not that far away!

:hug: :loveya:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

26. My dear Nicole!

Thanks, sweetie! :hug:

We are OK......

No, no storm doors. We really don't need them here.......

It's just that the door is so tall that the wind was able to just barely jiggle the top for a moment.....

So that the alarm went off........

And we know what to do to stabilize that!

It was scary as hell! But we're OK now......thanks! :hug:

[TOhioLiberal]

25. My dear CaliforniaPeggy...

Insecurity sucks! :hug::pals: Hope everything's okay now.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

27. My dear TOhioLiberal!

We are very all right now, thanks!

We feel quite safe in our beautiful home.......:hug: :pals:

[momophile]

29. too scary! I would have peed my pants

I hate alarms and have been known to jump up and run outside when the alarm clock gets put on alarm mode instead of radio mode.

Hope you have settled down now and feel safe again, CaliforniaPeggy.
:hug:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

32. My dear momophile......

It wasn't fun, but you can bet both me and my husband have settled down and are OK now!

We feel very safe....

And the winds aren't nearly as strong tonight!

:hug:

[Katina]

31. Nor'easters have that effect on people

and security hardware. Sorry you had such a bad night CP.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

33. My dear Katina!

I hear that!

The winds don't normally blow from that direction....

It was quite an experience!

We survived it and are once again secure.......

Thanks! :hug: