Wednesday, April 18, 2007

A Puzzle Solved


As some of you know we are living in a camper while we are waiting to rebuild our house that we tore down in December. How is 24/7 camping? Not bad. You would be amazed what you can do without when you need to. Honestly the only thing I miss is my 15 minute showers. Why? Because now the hot water only last 6 minutes, so ya got to get it done and get it out. I've got a washer and dryer and my refrigerator in a shed that my husband built-yes, I have a handy man. It even has cable and a sofa bed in it. Now I know you are probably having horrible visions in your mind but it was either this way of life or $1,200 to 1,700 a month for rent.
To me that would be like throwing my new wood floors or a professional oven down the drain. And girl, I do so want a professional oven in my new house. Guess I have a little of the chef in me still.
About a week ago I was out doing laundry and Julia was in the camper watching something on T.V. when all of a sudden she came taring into the shed in a panic. She informed us that there was a high pitch noise going off in the camper and that it had even scared our 14 year old, deaf Boston Terrier. Now if you have ever been in a larger travel camper you notice that they have you fully set up with all kinds of alarms, should something malfunction. There is of course the fire alarm and the carbon monoxide alarm and an alarm for a propane leak.
By the time I got to the camper there was no alarm going off. She showed me which one had been flashing and it was the one for the propane. Now I am a little concerned--I can see the morning headlines, "Family found dead in camper because of a propane leak". Or better yet we survive, but we provide a fourth of July bonfire for our neighborhood several months to early.
Trying to appear calm I tell her that maybe it was just testing itself and if there is a problem it will go off again. The light on it is now green saying everything is fine. Strange?
So two days pass and it is about 3:00 in the morning and I am startled awake by the sound of a loud (did I say loud?) excruciating, piercing alarm going off. YES, once again the propane alarm is going off. Hubby, who is like our Dog Rusty(no he is not 14-just half deaf) is not alarmed because the high pitch is almost to high for him to hear. Don't ask me to explain that. From what I understand when you have problems with you hearing-- some levels of sound go first. Yes, my voice is in that range. And, no I don't even have a high pitch squealing voice. Any hoo, I digress. So I go taring across the floor almost tripping over Rusty and start trying to get the alarm to go off. Someone told me once that a spider walking across theirs set it off. So I pulled it out from the wall and blew on it and it stopped. Once again we have a green light. So, I waited a minute to see if it would go off again, and nope still have green.
Most people would probably not have gone back to bed but I thanked God for the safety of my family and Rusty and went back to bed.
As you can imagine I tried to rack my brain as to what could be setting it off. Maybe the electricity flickered and it was resetting itself, maybe the spider thing--who knows. I just prayed that whatever was setting it off would stop or we would figure it out.
The next day I was sweeping the floor. Rusty is lying on the floor all spread eagle, in the way of course. The problem with a deaf, did I mention blind, 14 year old dog is that you are not going to get him to move quickly and no amount of talking to him is going to get him to move either. So as gently as I could I bent down and laid my hand on his head, to nudge him awake, just about the time he felt the need to release a little ---hmmmm----stomach pressure. I popped back up, overcome by the immediate need for some fresh air and then it happened. Yep, the propane alarm started going off.
Now we have known for a while that our old dogs digestion was enough to set off a feeling of complete revulsion or disgust in our family and yes , sometimes a unknowing guest. But, the dealer failed to tell us that when it comes to the propane alarm, BEWARE THE DOG!
Mystery solved!

And now you know the rest of the story!

8 comments:

Holly said...

Now that was a good 'un! I think you all are wise to be saving...it will be worth it when God gives you His best!

Will you spread the word for me? I have just received an email from Dennis Rainey of Family Life. His daughter Laura has come up with a great idea to spread the word about praying tomorrow for the campuses across the country and especially VA Tech. I uploaded it (to the best of my ability) to my blog. So you can share that or copy it and forward it to folks.

Sorry for a long comment!
Love you!
Holly

Nise' said...

Our pets bring such blessings to our lives??!!!
I am glad it wasn't anything more serious than a little stomach pressure! LOL

SunnySusan said...

my hubby and I are ROTF here...that is too funny girl

Marcy said...

That is so funny! I am glad that you found out what was causing your alarm to go off tho!

Soul Reflections said...

Oh so funny! We have a dog too but not an alarm. It's amazing how adaptable we really are, we just don't want to.

Halfmoon Girl said...

That was great! I am feeling a little blue this morning and that provided a laugh. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Oh that's hilarious!! :) You make me laugh - great writing! D

luvmy4sons said...

That is simply too hilarious! Thansk for taking time to do this Meme! I enjoyed all of your posts!