Fire Friends

Something you may not know about me is that I'm not allowed to talk to other people within 15 minutes after waking up. I also have to turn off all my phones because I have been known to have answered the phone in my sleep and carry on a full conversation, which I wake up halfway through. I also have to set my alarm clock for at least 30 minutes before I actually need to wake up because by the time I equate 'alarm going off' = 'need to get up' I have hit the snooze button at least three times. I have found it's best to give myself an hour to fully be awake before attempting anything so adventurous as using the phone or getting out of bed. So imagine my surprise when the other day I woke up to the most obnoxious beeping I have ever heard in my life. I had been asleep for an hour and 37 minutes after getting home from work the night before, and I spent a good 5 minutes pushing every button on my alarm clock trying to make the noise stop. Then I half-consciously stumbled into the living room to make sure the fireplace and/or fridge and/or washer/dryer weren't malfunctioning. On my way back to bed I walked past the fire alarm and briefly wondered if that's what the noise was, but in my half conscious state I determined that since a) there was no blinking lights accompanying the beeping b) I could not see or smell smoke c) neither the floor nor the walls felt warm d) the sprinklers were not on --it could not be the fire alarm. I crawled back under the covers, plugged my ears and put a pillow over my head, and attempted to go back to sleep. After about 10 more minutes, the beeping persisted and I was awake enough to realize that I should probably really figure out what the beeping was. So I threw on a hoodie over my jammies, ran my fingers through my hair, and grabbed my glasses. I opened the door, to see my crazy neighbor from across the hall who informed me that it was indeed the fire alarm. I still wasn't awake to inquire about why she was still in the building if she knew what the sound was. I sleepily stumbled back into my apartment, grabbed my cell phone and keys (ah, the important things :) ) and dutifully locked my door on the way to the stairs. When I got down stairs there was indeed a large conglomeration of my neighbors. Apparently the water line to the hot tub that's on the roof sprung a leek and was spurting water everywhere. So, as we're all standing there sans make-up and real clothes (most of us that were home at 10:30 in the morning work nights) Up pull 3 trucks of Seattle's Finest ...Yep. That's right. Three trucks full of hot firemen --gear and all!

So eventually we were allowed back in our apartments and an hour and a half after that, they were able to turn off the alarm and I was able to drift back into a blissfull slumber for a couple more hours before I had to wake u to go back to work.