Well that was scary!

tara g

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What a scary night! We finally got cable installed at the apartment last night, so we watched a movie on Spike and went to bed around midnight last night. Then awoke to a loud alarm sound. I thought my phone alarm was incredibly loud.... It was the two smoke detectors in the apartment going off! It was 2:30am. Smelled something that reminded me of dust burning like when you first turn the heater on in the winter time but didn't see smoke anywhere, so we figured it was a neighboring apartment. Went outside and no one else was around/out there. Started checking things, like the surge protector that had just been plugged in earlier in the night (wasn't sure if maybe it was a bad one), where stuff was plugged in, the hot water heater out on the porch, the washer/dryer closet, and the closet with the heat/ac unit. Didn't see smoke but the detectors were still going crazy and it still smelled. Grabbed the keys to both cars, our phones, and a box of pictures that I had packed earlier in the night (finally going through and organizing the giant mess that was my belongings from the house) and put them by the door.

Checked the heat/ac unit thing again, and where the filter was sitting was completely covered in ice!! We assumed that the unit was trying to pull in air, and couldn't, and began overheating. It was set on "Auto" at ~68*F. The detectors finally stopped beeping, and we shut the breaker off on the front of the unit. Left the door to the screened porch open for about 10-15 minutes to try and air the smell out and see if it went away. By 3am we were back in bed, hearts racing and every noise and the residual smell kept us up for awhile. Noticed this morning that the filter maintenance log on the front of the unit said "2-9-05" ... I wonder if the filter really hasn't been changed in 7 years... The ice had melted after we turned the unit off for the night. The other half went to the rental office to tell them about it this morning after I went to work, I'm guessing maintenance came in and checked it out today.

Never had a scare like that before. After I finally fell asleep again, I had a dream about it happening, except in the dream my kitties were there with us and I was trying to find them like crazy (even though there's no real place to hide in the apt). Probably combined the event and our discussion earlier in the evening about how he isn't against my cats living with us (or the $600 non-refundable fee that comes with it), but the fact we will be "in-limbo" with where we are living come August and we don't know what we'd do with them during that time. I miss them terribly and really would love to come home to them every night again, thinking I may ask Rob if he will "cat-sit" them again for a few weeks when the lease is up.... I had joked that for my bday on Friday I wanted my babies with me.

What a way to start the week...
 

ruthyb

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Awww hun,that does sound scary,its awful,especially when you know theres a problem somewhere and can't find it. Have maintenance sorted it?x
 
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