Bells Ringing

This is the emergency alarm in our kitchen.

On the left is a light that flashes and to the right is the alarm that sounds during an emergency.

Last night it rang.

Loudly.

I was in bed early, having risen at 5:30am and spending most of the day out with Ariana at various playdates. The weather was warm, giving everyone a taste of the hot hot hot humid humid humid Tokyo summer to come. It's the kind of weather which can drain you of any energy you have very quickly. Hence, the early bedtime.

About midnight I am jolted out of sleep by a very loud, very close siren. I jump up turning to Arny to take the lead in what could very well be a real emergency. He, annoyed at being disturbed says "It's just Jed's alarm clock". Of course this is the same person who, during the last earthquake, thought it was just me jostling the bed.

Quickly realizing it was not a little "get out of bed sleepy head" alarm clock, but a serious "get out of the house or die" alarm, we run, holding our ears, to see what was wrong. Jed comes out wondering what is going on. As we are standing there 1) evaluating if there is a real emergency and 2) trying to figure out how to turn the alarm off, the phone rings. Our downstairs neighbor Max is on the line, claiming responsibility for the noise level and attributing it to overcooked fish, which resulted in smoke, which triggered the alarms sounding. Over the noise, we are trying to have a conversation on how to make it stop, but neither of us have any ideas.

Arny of course does.

With a wire cutter, he snips.

There is silence.

In our apartment.

We can hear the continuing alarms in the others. By that time I have hung up with Max and quickly pick up the phone to try to catch him. There is no answer. Arny reluctantly gets dressed to go downstairs and see what is going on. He grabs a flashlight and duct tape and as he waits for the elevator, the doors open and there was a Japanese man in a blue uniform, sent by the building to do his own investigation. Hearing no alarm in our apartment, he apologizes for disturbing us and leaves, only to return shortly with more men, who examine the alarm, shaking their heads as they fix the wiring.

Apparently, the only way the alarm can be shut off is by going downstairs to the office and cutting the wires is a definite Japanese no no.

We now wait from the very polite letter from our caretaker telling us exactly that.

P.S. Ariana slept through the entire thing.