I had almost gone deaf yesterday. 😮

It was all because of this incessant beeping coming from somewhere within the house. It beeps every 5 minutes or so and it’s been driving me crazy for the last three days. Of course, as usual, mom had a gut instinct but she did not want to go explore and find out exactly which of the many alarms and detectors in the house was making that sound. She put me in charge.

Well, I had a gut instinct, too. I knew it was coming from basement. So yesterday, after working for 5 hours and listening to that beeping, I went downstairs to explore.

As I made my way down, I began to feel a little like a detective solving a case. I got the very bottom and stared up at the smoke detector even though my gut was telling me it was Carbon Monoxide (CO) detector but we just changed the batteries a few months ago. Anyway, it’s good to make sure.

I stared up at it for what felt like a long time, 5 minutes feels forever when you’re doing nothing but waiting for a sound. As I became unaware, that beeping sounded, louder than it was upstairs but it wasn’t coming from the smoke detector, it was coming from inside that mechanical closet.

It was just as I thought originally.  It was the CO detector, not the smoke detector. I picked it up from its place next to the pipe and stared at it. It wasn’t beeping. Then I turned it over and read the fine print.

It said, “Low battery, 1 beep every 4 minutes”. Well there’s my answer.

I began to try to remove the lid standing up and then it happened. It beeped all of the sudden. I jumped back, scaring the heck out of me.  Not only that, it was so loud, and for the next few seconds, everything I heard was muffled.

I placed the detector on the desk and removed the lid and saw the batteries. No wonder, three batteries, two same, one different. No wonder it was out of battery.

I took out the first battery and a loud beep once again rang in my ears, making me jump and everything I hear muffle again. After my heart stopped pounding so hard, I continued removing the remaining batteries and put fresh ones in.

Another loud beep sounded after I put the third battery in. “Jeez!” I muttered. At this rate, I’d be deaf. I replaced the lid and pressed the test/reset button. Four loud beeps penetrated my ears and the room making me jump yet again. Looks like it works to me, I thought while the back of my mind was praying.  Please please please be a long long time before it beeps again.

I placed it back to its original location and went back upstairs.

Two lessons here:

1. Never buy batteries at the dollar store. They never last.
2. If one battery’s out, change all of them instead of just changing one.

Thanks for listening!