About 5:30 AM this morning, the better half and I were startled out of our sleep by a loud bang. She might have said "what was that?" or "did you hear that?" or something to that effect, or she might not have said anything at all. I don't specifically remember.
I froze and listened for maybe 2 seconds, although it seemed a lot longer at the time. No more sounds, no footsteps. Started replaying the sound in my head. Didn't sound like glass breaking, didn't sound like there was any wood splintering, sounded kind of metallic, actually.
We had been having some problems with our (gas) furnace lately, and the first thing that went through my head was explosion / fire. I rolled out of bed, grabbed my glasses and streamlight off the night stand, and (here's the part I'm kicking myself for) left the Kimber behind. Why? I'm not exactly sure. It lives in a quick-access safe, but the keypad buttons to open it are a little small for my taste, and could easily be fumbled when in a hurry or under stress, which I was. That may have been a contributing factor. From now on, it may get unlocked when I go to bed. Anyways....
Went to the bedroom door. Quick peek, hallway's clear. Out and down to the second floor. Quick peek around the corner, to see down the steps to the first floor and front door. Front door's intact, and that's the only way in that doesn't involve breaking glass and moving a lot of furnature /drape/shelves/lamps/etc around. Seeing it ok, I then went to the second floor laundry room, where the furnace is.
Turns out it was the furnace. In all the checking it out being done lately, the front access panel wasn't fully secured and must have vibrated off. ~2 square feet of sheet metal dropped from 4 feet sure is loud that early in the morning.
Good:
Good reaction time. I was awake, alert, and acting pretty darn fast. Total elapsed time from the noise to the solution was maybe 20 seconds.
Good preparedness. Me and SWMBO have discussed various scenarios, and we both did what the other expected without any verbal communication. She stayed behind with the phone in hand while I went out to investigate. Light, glasses, cell phone, and gun were all readily available, right there by the bed, ready to go. (even if I didn't grab all of them
:banghead: )
My first hunch as to the source of the noise, formed in the first 2 seconds of being awake, was correct.
Bad:
I left the gun behind. I didn't feel unarmed (I actually considered the flashlight a weapon), but that may just be conditioning from not being able to CCW.
My hunch was correct, but if I think I let that hunch override other possibilites. I should have gone better armed, in case that bang was the front door being kicked in rather than the furnace.
If there had been a fire, well... I think I might have a fire extinguisher.... somewhere. Tonight, there will be one on each floor, and I will damn well know exactly where they are.
The furnace repair guy is coming out this afternoon. When he's done, that panel is getting securely duct taped on....
I froze and listened for maybe 2 seconds, although it seemed a lot longer at the time. No more sounds, no footsteps. Started replaying the sound in my head. Didn't sound like glass breaking, didn't sound like there was any wood splintering, sounded kind of metallic, actually.
We had been having some problems with our (gas) furnace lately, and the first thing that went through my head was explosion / fire. I rolled out of bed, grabbed my glasses and streamlight off the night stand, and (here's the part I'm kicking myself for) left the Kimber behind. Why? I'm not exactly sure. It lives in a quick-access safe, but the keypad buttons to open it are a little small for my taste, and could easily be fumbled when in a hurry or under stress, which I was. That may have been a contributing factor. From now on, it may get unlocked when I go to bed. Anyways....
Went to the bedroom door. Quick peek, hallway's clear. Out and down to the second floor. Quick peek around the corner, to see down the steps to the first floor and front door. Front door's intact, and that's the only way in that doesn't involve breaking glass and moving a lot of furnature /drape/shelves/lamps/etc around. Seeing it ok, I then went to the second floor laundry room, where the furnace is.
Turns out it was the furnace. In all the checking it out being done lately, the front access panel wasn't fully secured and must have vibrated off. ~2 square feet of sheet metal dropped from 4 feet sure is loud that early in the morning.
Good:
Good reaction time. I was awake, alert, and acting pretty darn fast. Total elapsed time from the noise to the solution was maybe 20 seconds.
Good preparedness. Me and SWMBO have discussed various scenarios, and we both did what the other expected without any verbal communication. She stayed behind with the phone in hand while I went out to investigate. Light, glasses, cell phone, and gun were all readily available, right there by the bed, ready to go. (even if I didn't grab all of them
:banghead: )
My first hunch as to the source of the noise, formed in the first 2 seconds of being awake, was correct.
Bad:
I left the gun behind. I didn't feel unarmed (I actually considered the flashlight a weapon), but that may just be conditioning from not being able to CCW.
My hunch was correct, but if I think I let that hunch override other possibilites. I should have gone better armed, in case that bang was the front door being kicked in rather than the furnace.
If there had been a fire, well... I think I might have a fire extinguisher.... somewhere. Tonight, there will be one on each floor, and I will damn well know exactly where they are.
The furnace repair guy is coming out this afternoon. When he's done, that panel is getting securely duct taped on....
