Chirp..Chirp...Chirp...Chirp...Chirp...Chirp...Chirp...

The hard wired smoke alarm in my bedroom starting chirping at 1:30 in the morning. I replaced the battery with one that was in a non-hard wired smoke alarm taken down from the kitchen ceiling while painting.
It kept chirping. 

I didn't have any 9 volt batteries and wasn't sure where I would be able to get one in the middle of the night.
Besides, I'm paranoid. What if the smoke alarm itself is bad? It has gone off twice in the past couple weeks after I got out of the shower. It's supposed to be a smoke detector, not a moisture detector. Waving a towel in front of it got it to shut off both times. Maybe that should have clued me in that something was wrong. I should have changed the battery then. If the smoke alarm is bad, I'll have to buy a new one. Then I will have to figure out which breaker switch is the correct one so I can change out the alarm. They aren't labeled. I guess I could shut them all off as long as there is enough daylight to see what I am doing, but in the middle of the night? No. Changing a hard wired smoke alarm is supposed to be just like changing a light fixure--something I've read how to do, but never done. Not really something I want to do for the first time with no one around. I'm still have flashbacks to when I electrocuted myself.
I put in ear plugs and tried to go back to sleep.
No luck.

Other than my bed, I have no furniture in my house so it's not like I could go sleep on the couch or in the guest bed. I moved to the hard, dusty floor in the second bedroom. I shut my bedroom door and the door of the second bedroom.
I could still hear the chirping.

I put the ear plugs back in and shoved towels in front of both doors in case the sound was leaking out the bottom.
I could still hear the chirping.

I put the covers over my head. Chirp..chirp...chirp...chirp...chirp...chirp...chirp...

I eventually got to sleep but woke up about every 15 minutes the rest of the night because wood floors with no cushion aren't very comfortable to sleep on.  Have I mentioned that I am tired today? And maybe a bit cranky?

This morning someone told me that steam will sometimes set off a smoke detector and that a battery change is probably all it needs. I bought 9 volt batteries at lunch and drove home feeling hopeful, but apprehensive. I put in the battery and closed the door. One chirp, then blessed silence. Ah.