DON'T BE ALARMED!

Life outside of work is a crazy mix of occasional moments of normalcy overshadowed by major bouts of shit-show-ery. I cannot remember the last time I was warm in my house, and I'd really like to take an incredibly long, hot shower in the privacy of my own home.

So, my patience at work is nonexistent when it comes to having zero heat in my classroom, as well.  The maintenance staff comes in, one after the other, put their hands on the heater and exclaim, "Yup, it's cold."

No. Shit.

If that's not bad enough, every day around noon the air turns on, sending waves of cold air straight at me since my desk sits in front of a vent.  It's like the final insult.

Oh, but wait.  Just when I think it cannot be worse, an alarm starts screeching from the loudspeaker in the room's ceiling.  It is an alarm we've never heard before.  I doubt it's an alarm for a lock-down or for an active shooter because it is the end of the school day, and parents in cars are all lined up right outside of my window.  If there were an active shooter situation, surely people wouldn't be holding social hour mere yards away. It's definitely not the heat sensor alarm in my room as the heat sensor  must be frozen.

The noise is loud, disturbing, and maddening.

I poke my head into the hall and see a couple of other teachers taking students outside, as if this whole fiasco were a fire drill.  We look around and realize that no administration has said anything nor made their presence known.

Turns out it's the alarm that lets the police know when someone breaks into the building after hours.

Well, now that we've established what that is, maybe someone could shut the damn thing off so that we don't all go mad.  I suppose it's a blessing in disguise: The noise is so loud and so obnoxious that most of the staff packs up and leaves right on time instead of hanging around prepping for next week.      

(Video doesn't work ... trust me -- it's LOUD and annoying.  LOL)