When we moved into our home about six years ago, we were told to install carbon monoxide detectors. Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas that you'd never notice until it was too late . . . unless you had a detector. So we plugged in some detectors and we never gave them a second thought.
We never gave them a second thought, that is, until last week. On Sunday morning we woke up to numbers on the detectors' screens. What's more, one of the detectors was beeping obnoxiously (or was it beeping noxiously?) calling attention to itself. We probably overreacted by calling the fire department, but our wonderful emergency crew (many of them our neighbors) seemed happy enough to come out and spend some time at our house. They helped us check everything out and they told us to get the furnace guy out as soon as possible.
It turns out that what happened was likely related more to fireplaces and downdrafts, but it was probably wise to check everything out. That "better safe than sorry" philosophy guides my life more than I'd like to admit.
Thinking about what happened last week, though, I'm most intrigued by the detectors and by how quickly I responded to what they were telling me.