NOT AGAIN? DAMN!!!!!

I just got finished with a LONG weekend. After work Friday, I mowed, edged, weed-eated, and swept up in the yard. After finishing, I cooked dinner. Don't ask why I did it all myself, it's a sore subject, but apparently my fault.

I volunteered for 2 different service projects on Saturday, so I was gone from 6am until 4pm Saturday. After I got home, something else was apparently my fault again. Can't win for losing around here. When I got cleaned up, we took the kids to see my parents for a little while, and while they kept them, we had a date night. You know you are an old married couple when your date night is dinner out followed by shopping for kids clothes at the Carter's store and then doing some grocery shopping.

Work is really busy lately. After leaving the office at 6:30 or so this evening, I stopped by the hair cut place on the way home to get a long overdue shearing. When I walked in the door at home, completely beat, I heard it. From somewhere deep in the house, it was a familiar, but dreaded sound. BEEP! You've got to be kidding me... Well, I know which one it isn't. I just replaced the battery in the smoke detector in the office. I guess I'll get busy with the rest of them. I headed upstairs and wandered around in search of the beeping smoke detector.

After checking all of them, I discover that it's the same darn one. It's the one in the office again. I got my chair out and took it off the ceiling, then removed the battery. Surely the battery can't be dead already. I remembered a way to test the battery that I learned as a kid... YOW, there is nothing wrong with this battery. While grouching about the smoke detector, unplugged, and battery free, of course, it beeps again. This thing is possessed. I start thinking that the batteries in these things aren't lasting very long lately. These are hard wired with battery back-ups, so they should last a while as the battery only powers the thing if the electricity goes off. I actually removed the one from Matthew's room a couple of weeks ago when it literally ruined a battery. Made the 9v battery look like a football. I haven't been overly concerned about that one since we have a battery powered alarm outside his bedroom.

Well, I ended up reading the small print at the bottom of the alarm. It seems that you are supposed to replace these things every 10 years. As the house is now 9 years old, I guess it's about time. Problem solved. I got online and ordered 6 new detectors from a company out in California that had newer versions that were direct plug-in replacements for the ones we currently have. Tomorrow, I should have a UPS tracking number to busy myself with. After counting, we've got 6 hard wired smoke detectors in the house, 2 carbon monoxide detectors, and 3 extra battery operated smoke detectors for "just in case" - sort of a belt & suspenders sort of deal.

Did any of the rest of you know that these things only last about 10 years?