Loss of Hearing
Argh! There seems to be no way to turn off the damn fire alarm. It's incessant high-pitch whine has been going for over half an hour now without abating. Actually I don't hear it as acutely anymore, since it probably killed off the cilia in my inner ear responsible for its hateful frequency. So when we have a real emergency, I'll be toast.
Jfer decided to test drive one of her birthday gifts today and put an Applejack scent in her brand new simmer pot on the stove. After a while the aroma reached us in the living room and wasn't too bad (if you're into pot-pouri). Then some time later I noticed a different kind of smell--a sweet scent not unlike what smoke machines in a theater produce. I ran into the kitchen which at this point was mostly filled with white smoke from the now-empty-but-blackening simmer pot. Less than a minute after I turned off the stove and opened the windows the alarm kicked in and hasn't stopped since.
I'm disappointed that Homer didn't seem fazed by the smoke--he's no Lassy and we can't depend for him to pull us out of a burning house, I guess.
So while Jfer now has one more item on her Xmas list (I'm talking about a new simmer pot--we already have a fire extinguisher) maybe that's not the best gift to give her...
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Ooooh, how diasppointing for the simmer pot and annoying for your ears. Yanking the smoke alarm out didn't work?
Unfortunately, our smoke alarm is adjacent to our furnace door. Every winter after lighting the furnace for the first time, it always sets off the fire alarm. Thankfully, we have a reset button on our fire alarm. Evidently, you don't have the same type, or you would have figured out how to shut if off. If all else fails you can always try to remove the battery.
Unfortunatelly the fire alarm is the wired kind and doesn't have a battery that needs replacing or that can be yanked out (and I think it's got an internal backup battery, so turning off the power isn't an option, either). Nor is there an obvious reset button (we've been through this a couple of years back during a smoky raclette incident).
We mitigated the problem by stuffing cotton balls into the speaker and by using ear plugs. Eventually it stopped (after more than an hour) and I'm not sure if it was on its own or because of my jiggling the different components. The worst thing is that I doesn't have any manufacturer's info on it, so I don't know where to find a manual.
sounds like a new fire alarm complete with manual and reset button may be the best gift to get you both.
Too bad about Homer...I guess that means future generations will never be named Timmy...and you should probably stay away from future homes near wells.
Meredith robbed part of my comment in that I would nix the simmer pot as a gift and get a new resetable fire alarm. I would bet she did not believe it's name and did not have the heat on simmer.
I love the simmer pot and am looking forward to using it again. I did have the heat on simmer, but failed to check it often enough to make sure it had sufficient water...next time I'll set a timer.