When Gadgets Collide
Feb. 11th, 2011 01:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marydellWe are gadget people. When we put in our basement smoke detector, we got the fancy one that talks, and that tells you if it's smoke or carbon monoxide. And when we had our basement office put in just recently, we got a fancy dimmer switch for the lights, that has a little remote control so we don't have to do all that work of leaning over and pressing the switch on the wall.
Charlie loves the remote controller for the lights, and has figured out how to turn them on and off, and sometimes how to dim them. A couple of days ago he randomly pointed it out the door of the office, at the wall with the smoke detector, and pressed the big silver button. And the smoke detector went into its test routine. LOUDLY. "Alert! Alert! Smoke detected in basement, evacuate immediately! Alert! Alert! Carbon monoxide detected in basement, evacuate immediately! Highest level of carbon monoxide detected was: Zero!"
Charlie leaped into my lap as soon as the voice started, and he cowered while we did the whole routine again, since we had to make sure it was really just testing and that the light controller really had caused it. Now whenever he goes in or out of the office he gives the smoke detector a worried look and says "What's that?!" Once I explain what it is, and that it is our friend and that it helps us, he is appeased, until the next time he notices it and then the worried look comes back.
We could not figure out WhyTF a smoke detector would respond to a remote control, but apparently it's a feature for people who don't want to do all the work of reaching up to press the test switch. Ah, gadgets.
Charlie loves the remote controller for the lights, and has figured out how to turn them on and off, and sometimes how to dim them. A couple of days ago he randomly pointed it out the door of the office, at the wall with the smoke detector, and pressed the big silver button. And the smoke detector went into its test routine. LOUDLY. "Alert! Alert! Smoke detected in basement, evacuate immediately! Alert! Alert! Carbon monoxide detected in basement, evacuate immediately! Highest level of carbon monoxide detected was: Zero!"
Charlie leaped into my lap as soon as the voice started, and he cowered while we did the whole routine again, since we had to make sure it was really just testing and that the light controller really had caused it. Now whenever he goes in or out of the office he gives the smoke detector a worried look and says "What's that?!" Once I explain what it is, and that it is our friend and that it helps us, he is appeased, until the next time he notices it and then the worried look comes back.
We could not figure out WhyTF a smoke detector would respond to a remote control, but apparently it's a feature for people who don't want to do all the work of reaching up to press the test switch. Ah, gadgets.
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no subject
Date: 2011-02-11 07:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-11 09:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-11 09:38 pm (UTC)Especially the frantic announcement that there is ZERO CARBON MONOXIDE!
P.
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Date: 2011-02-11 09:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 07:19 am (UTC)