Hell Will be Loud

I had a preview today. Tropical Storm Ernesto was blowing in full force this morning and as happens from time to time. The power checked out. When the power checked back in my smoke alarms went off for about 5 minutes and ceased. So I thought they were just resetting after the power outage. Engaged in that perpetual feast that is laundry in my house and the alarms went off again. So I turned off the clothes dryer because it's just better. I didn't smell anything burning melting or weird so I reluctantly called 911. The fire chief and 2 police officers were dispatched with alacrity and hot on their heels came the fire truck. The fire chief and the firefighter came in and checked the joint out with a heat seeking camera, saw nothing alarming, turned the dryer back on for me and began to departed. The firefighter was packing away the heat seeking camera when the alarms went off again. So he waved down the chief, the two other chiefy looking guys and they all come back to check again. They allowed as I should turn the fan on my furnace unit on to keep the air moving and inquired as to the age of my smoke alarms. My smoke alarms are in their mid twenties, and hard wired so it would be reasonable that skronk would be affecting the detector heads. They check out my dryer again, pulling it out from the wall and discover that it's a flex hose that no longer meets the construction code and it has got a hole in it. Soooo - I have to not use the dryer until I replace the vent hose. No problem, I'm all over it. About an hour later as my ears are beginning to recover, did I mention that these smoke alarms sound at a volume not dissimilar to those surrounding the local nuke plant? And the alarms go off again. So I call 911 again and the send all my new friends back, they then test which alarm is going off upstairs or down, discern it is the upstair alarm and advise me that I will want to get an electrician in to switch out the old alarms. (Yep, could do it myself, nope, my insurance won't pay if I do it myself and there's an untoward occurrence so I will be finding an electrician to do that.)

This experience was far, far louder than the word loud even begins to suggest.