It's Alarming II: The Sequel

A month or so ago, I found myself pacing the early morning sidewalks as I waited for a fire alert to end. Tonight, the alarms went off again. This time, though, there were 9 of us in the apartment, 6 of whom had just arrived from Tennessee -- 2 adult people, 3 of the 10-and-under variety, one barely more than a year old, and all of them trying to sleep after a long flight to California. It was not yet midnight, but to their fresh-from-the-Central-Time-Zone bodies, the Pacific clock was irrelevant. This felt like 2 a.m. Great time for an alarm. Welcome to San Diego! Or, more specifically, welcome to La Apartment Complex.

Amazingly, only adults seemed to stir. Despite the screeching siren, the children, to whom the trip had been a last-minute surprise, remained abed. It was a big day for them, after all. For all save one, it included their first plane ride. And with Disneyland only days away, more firsts are in store. I imagine they'll sleep this soundly on most nights in California.

As before, it was a false alarm and the screeching did, in time, come to an end. I was particularly happy for this, knowing (after a little wrong-side-of-the-locked-door incident) that there would be no rescue via "maintenance" at so late an hour. I had feared that we'd have to wait for the office to open in the morning to find relief. There is no assistance after hours, sorry. The leasing office opens at 9 on Saturdays, thank you for calling. We appreciate your business, please write a large check and deliver it to us promptly; good night. And don't call back!

With everyone back in their beds and a few moments steal-able at the computer, I write this in the wee hours, fully aware that children who would wake earlier than me in any time zone are going to out-wake me by an additional two hours as 6 o'clock here equates to 8 o'clock -- or worse, as 4 a.m. equates to 6 -- in their little bodies. It's going to be a short night for me. But tomorrow night....

Tell my new airbed to get ready. Tomorrow night, I plan on sleeping like those kids. Alarm or no alarm.