Raising the alarms

So what's new? Two weird events.

Alternating Fire Alarms

Yesterday, my mother's fire alarms went off twice - once at lunchtime, once at dinnertime. (Note the plural.) Yes, she had been cooking, but nothing got burnt. The fire alarms have never gone off before.

Upstairs alarm went off at noon, as I was getting up; downstairs one went off around 6:30pm. If these were related to the cooking, shouldn't the alarm closest to the kitchen go off both times? Why one upstairs, then one downstairs?

They were piercingly loud. While trying to shut one off, I discovered...(can you guess?)...they're not battery-operated: they're wired into the house. No failing batteries here. (See 'Fighting Fires' post, November 14.)


American Flag Drive-By

In between the two alarms, my mother and I went out. Driving home, around 5:30pm, a truck crossed our path, just before reaching my mother's street. It sported a large American flag (about 4'x6', maybe bigger) in a plastic sleeve on a black background - both seemed temporarily pasted on. The rest of this squarish, moving-type truck was blank and non-descript: no logos, no company name, nothing.

After crossing the four-way stop, I looked back and saw the truck's other side was bare.

Both incidents - the fire alarms and this flag-bearing truck - happened the day after I had posted to an activist listserv. I suggested that Canadian security bodies do monitor, infiltrate, and control community groups, listservs, and so on. Among links I included were two questioning the war in Iraq.

Strange timing, don't you think?


Note: Reading this blog, you may construe me as being anti-American, but that's not so. I just can't endorse many of the U.S.'s actions, and feel their present model of capitalism is questionable. At the Citizens' Inquiry into 9-11, I met some truly patriotic, well-informed Americans. Their love for their country and all it once stood for - freedom, democracy, truth, justice - shines through in the work each of them is doing to try and ensure a lawful and just society.

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Edit: The property managers insisted before that I must be *overloading* the circuits. Yet the only things on were my lights, fridge, and computer. They even tried to suggest my toaster oven uses substantial wattage.

Can electrical wiring problems suddenly creep up like this? Funny how I happen to be writing this weblog each time the fuse blows.

Same old heating problems, too. Entering my slightly cool apartment today, it was 68 degrees Fahrenheit (assuming the thermometer hasn't been tampered with), yet I noticed the manager's office was a cozy 74 degrees, as I handed over the rent cheque. They don't even live in the building.