Beep……

I suppose it is a result of my decades of working in the high tech communications field, including hundreds of nights sleeping in mountain top microwave sites but my ears and mind is highly tuned to sounds that others might not notice. When an alarm like sound goes off, I am instantly awake and alert, wondering what it is and what I have done wrong to cause it.

Such is the case when a cell phone sounds it’s low battery warning. No matter where the phone is in the house, I am instantly alerted when it makes it’s first sound…. BEEP…

Such was the case (again) last night at 3:00am! BEEP….. My mind was working on the problem before I was awake.

What was that?

Alarm?

Indicator?

Did a system switch?

Why?

Where was it?

This mental process all takes place between the first and second beep. By the time I hear the second beep I am wide awake. The phone is in Norma’s purse, unknown and forbidden territory for yours truly. There is no way I can sleep through the hour or so before the battery is too dead to even power the beep. I have no choice.

“Norma!”………

“Norma!” …….. “Your phone is beeping!” …….

BEEP

“Shut up and go back to sleep, it is the middle of the night!”

“I can’t. Plug it in or turn it off!”

“Turn what off?”

BEEP

“Your phone. It’s beeping!”

“I can’t hear it. Go to sleep”

BEEP

“I can’t sleep with the alarm going off!”

“What alarm?”

BEEP

Well, I am sure you are getting the picture. Eventually one of us gets up and plugs the damn thing in but by now we are both wide awake and can’t get back to sleep for a half hour or so. She turns on the light to read herself back to sleep. Another chapter in the saga draws to a close.