My knees are still weak with unrequited fear.
Obviously, something woke me up. And fast. I was startled awake by a huge crashing noise. When I sprung out of bed, the motion-sensor lights were on in the front of our house -- the lights that only come on when something has moved in the close proximity of the front door (which is very close to the bedroom as well). Blimey!
I grabbed a cordless phone and darted up the stairs in the dark. Higher ground = safer.
From upstairs, from the kitchen window which is directly above the front door, most of the front area of the property can be seen. I stopped. I listened, my ears straining for a tell-tale sign of ominous mischief above the sound of my heart crashing against my chest. I watched, eyes overly-round. Like an animal. I saw or heard nothing.
Then I noticed that the garage door was wide open. Oh shit. A fresh wave of adrenaline surged through me. I repeated all of the above, ears and eyes reaching into space for a sign, my fingers poised above the phone's keypad. None came. Not a sound. Common sense told me that if someone had broken into the garage, I would have known about it by now.
Ok, regroup. Calm thyself down. Sneak downstairs on shaky legs. Turn on all the lights. Get dressed. Sneak up to the inside door to the garage and listen once again for good measure. Nothing. Open the door as if surprising someone doing something naughty. Ah ha! Caught you, you little bugger. But no one there, just the night critters singing and the distance sound of the surf.
Ok, then. Jeez. What the heck did happen here? Investigative mode began. Standing in the middle of the garage, I smelled something odd. Like a machine. Was it Antz' motorbike? Nothing seems to be amiss or broken (there's all kinds of stuff piled at the front of the garage since I've been sorting it, but nothing seemed to have fallen or broken when the garage door opened). Good sign. The sound that woke me was simply the garage door opening. All by Itself.
Ok, try the button. I pushed the button that would normally spring the garage door into life. Nothing. Dude, it's broken. That explains the machine smell -- must be the motor to the opener. This still doesn't explain why it opened, but oh well. Right, what would Antz do? I think the thingie that moves along the chain disengages somehow. Although I'm certain he wouldn't call it a thingie.
Most prudent to turn the power off first. I grabbed my trusty old softball bat (that incidentally almost made the 'garage sale' pile -- because when will I ever play softball again? ...well maybe I'll just take it down to the park and hit a few balls sometime...so yeah, I'll keep it for now). I used the bat to turn off the power switch on the ceiling above the unit. Ok, pull the handle on the chain. Wa la, disengaged! I closed the garage door and turned the handle to engage the locking pins. With no power and pins engaged, there is no frikin' chance that door will open again by Itself anytime soon. Sorted!
Now I'm wide awake for sure and for heaven knows how long and thought, what better time to update my blog? But before I do, I think I've found a new home for my softball bat.
1 comment:
you had me on the edge of my seat!! good thing you are o.k.
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