It was hard to notice while I was wrangling the cat and jumping out of their way and explaining where stuff was.

It's a pity, but you almost never get to see them in circumstances where you can determine hotness or not. Like, not only are you stressed out and jumpy and somehow perpetually in their way, but they're wearing gigantic plastic clothing. Cruel fate.

My first full-time job was at Dearborn and Grand, right next door to the fire station (the building is now Spago's). I had a co-worker who loved to stroll by the station house on her lunch break and flirt with the firemen hanging outside in between calls.

It's a pity, but you almost never get to see them in circumstances where you can determine hotness or not. Like, not only are you stressed out and jumpy and somehow perpetually in their way, but they're wearing gigantic plastic clothing. Cruel fate.

Almost but sometimes, you get lucky.

Every time i've gone into the local Quiznos (which isn't often, their veggie options are pretty sad) there have been many firefighters getting food. I flirted with one once but then an alarm went off and they all ran out to the truck, leaving their food behind. Guy behind the counter says that happens a lot. I wondered if they come back to get the stuff they already paid for, but didn't ask.

Ready for some blasphemy? Here's the LOLcatBible!

Boreded Ceiling Cat makinkgz Urf n stuffs

1 Oh hai. In teh beginnin Ceiling Cat maded teh skiez An da Urfs, but he did not eated dem.

...

3 At start, no has lyte. An Ceiling Cat sayz, i can haz lite? An lite wuz.

...

6 An Ceiling Cat sayed, im in ur waterz makin a ceiling. But he no yet make a ur. An he maded a hole in teh Ceiling.

...

9 An Ceiling Cat gotted all teh waterz in ur base, An Ceiling Cat hadz dry placez cuz kittehs DO NOT WANT get wet.10 An Ceiling Cat called no waterz urths and waters oscunz. Iz good.

11 An Ceiling Cat sayed, DO WANT grass! so tehr wuz seedz An stufs, An fruitzors An vegbatels. It happen.12 An Ceiling Cat sawed that weedz ish good, so, letz there be weed. (and catnipz 2, so wen i makes kittehs they can getz hai.)13 An so teh threeth day jazzhands.

Centuries from now, people researching the distant past of the early 21st century will eventually encounter LOLcat-something, and they will be confused.

I know a guy whose neighbor in a big apartment building had his CO detector going off for 2 days before anybody called it in (I persuaded the guy to call, on basis that 2 days of annoyingness, while not an emergency, constitute the possibility that the neighbor might be dead). Nobody actually knew it was a CO detector, just an alarm. The firefighters took it seriously, broke into the apartment via a window, and discovered that the oven was on. And had been on for two days. While the tenant wasn't home.

That dude had some splaining to do when his neighbors got ahold of him.

Trust your alarms! They're alarming for a reason! (Not that I follow my own advice; I keep my smoke detector in a drawer because it was installed too close to a brand-new oven and is essentially a detector of pie-baking.)

My smoke detector goes off when I take a hot shower. Or it would, if there was a battery in it.

Um, I suppose I should do something to rectify the situation....

I was just about to say that my smoke detector goes off when I take a hot shower with the door open and the fan off, but tommyrot beat me to it. Is your detector on the wall right above your bathroom door, too?

Well, what are you supposed to do, if you are on vacation and dont' know your CO detector is going off?

I am using my oven for the first time in this apartment. Hopefully there will be no smoke detector issues. Chocolate chip cookies, here I come!