"Phoebe Buffet?".... "Fire Alarm?"

{Photo: Friends, Season 7, Episode 12} 

The other night Ryan and I were home in our apartment when all of the sudden we heard it. Beep.
Me: (in my head) Hmm, maybe I just imagined that beeping sound. Beep....Beep.
Me: Ryan, I think the batteries are out in one of the smoke detectors.
Ryan: I don't know Kate, are you sure? Beep....Beep....BEEP.
Me: Yes, I'm SURE.

Oh, it is a familiar scene for most people. The dreaded moment when you realize that you need to fix the smoke detector. It is even worse when you realize that you don't have a ladder tall enough to reach the ceiling. Or the right battery to replace it and make the beeping STOP.

For the first night that the beeping started Ryan was somehow able to reach up and rattle it a little to make the beeping stop. Temporary bliss. And then last night it started again. He figured out how to stand on something to disconnect it. We took the battery out. Those crazy things just keep on beeping!!!! We were out running a few errands so we figured we could pick up one at 7-11 because they sell everything there - everything except smoke detector batteries. And we were too exhausted to make a Walmart run. Luckily, it was the smoke detector in Eva's room, so we just hid the beeping part way back in her closet for the night. This morning I went by our apartment office and asked them to come and fix it. They said they'd have someone come out right away...right away on Tuesday morning. I guess since it is a holiday weekend the maintenance people are only working on true emergencies and we do have 3 other working smoke detectors in our 1000 foot apartment, so its not urgent.

Although it is inconvenient, the situation made me think about the Friends episode where Phoebe can't get her smoke detector to stop beeping. I love this clip from Friends so I am posting it for the joy of fellow Friends lovers :) If you can't get the beeping to stop, you might as well find a way to laugh about it!

Phoebe's Fire Alarm Clip