Centre of attention

Time and more to add my flood tale to the mix.

Lucky me: Tuesdays I work afternoons, so I just rolled over when the thunder and lightning showed up. When I finally got up, the worst was over, but my spouse pointed out the roof leak in the back bedroom. This defect is something of a weather prophet, since it only leaks under extreme conditions. Thus we knew, before anyone announced a figure, that we had had four inches of rain in under two hours.

The cellar was not so bad. We have one corner, yet untiled, which is the habitat of useful junk. There was just enough water to turn some of the useful junk into useless junk.

But now we turn to my workplace. Although the office sits atop one of Salem's highest hills, the file room next to my office has always shown a talent for attracting leaks. I arrived expecting the worst, but was pleased to find my carpet dry and the leaks not so bad.

Except except except.... Early in the morning, there was enough leaky water to interrupt power very briefly. That short interruption was enough to set off the backup battery alarm.

The backup battery is a noble idea for networks. Trouble is, many of the associated alarms don't have the mother wit to SHUT UP after the emergency is over. The geeks who build these things seem to take a fiendish delight in pitching the alarms at the outer limits of human hearing. Our backup battery alarm was running when I arrived at work early yesterday afternoon. It was running when I got there this morning. It was still running when I left. It is still running in my head, with tinnitus that is becoming quite impressive. It will probably be running when I go in tomorrow, unless someone takes the battery out and shoots it. The tinnitus may last longer.

This probably doesn't rank with the lake at Peabody Square, and the ponds in many other places, but I submit that it is collateral damage.