an alarming awakening

I woke up this morning to a shrill alarm. At first I thought it was the smoke detector, but the green light was shining cheerily. It was definitely coming from the bedroom, because closing the door muted it. I finally figured out that it was coming from a speaker in the wall.

When I went downstairs the neighbors were outside. Apparently it's a building fire alarm. The streetlamps and warning lights on each side of the building were flashing. I called 911 and the dispatcher reassured me that the fire department was already on the way.

It's been almost an hour and the damn thing is still beeping --- no, shrieking intermittently. False alarm, but they can't seem to keep it off. The fireman asked if there had been a power fluctuation, and the guy who lives two doors down said that he'd noticed that power fluctuates often in this building. Because I haven't, I think what it really means is that he's got faulty wiring or something that caused us all to wake up at 6 am on a Sunday morning.

This is the sound that greeted me: (recorded from the next room)
My morning wakeup call

~*~*~*

Xmas Song du jour
~The Christmas Song~