Connections Around The World

So yesterday I was having lunch, and got a few unfamiliar numbered calls on my phone. I ignored them, as I do, since they tend to be unwanted solicitations.  The solicitors have gotten creative -- they use numbers with the same prefix as mine, to make me think they're someone I know. Ha -- I show them -- just don't answer.

Except, it turned out yesterday, they were calls from my alarm company, my pool company, and a back line from my friend Mike.

Wifey was boiling some eggs and forgot about them, and caused the smoke that results when the water is all boiled away. That set off the monitored smoke alarm, which she couldn't deactivate. That caused the company to try to reach the folks on the list -- the Ds and Mike -- and the poor pool guy, who happened to be there, to call HIS office to ask what to do.

Wifey was eventually able to get the company to cancel the alarm, apparently before the fire department came out -- but not before worrying D1, who was having dinner in Amsterdam. She texted me --her call didn't go through -- worried that her parents were burned to a crisp -- not to mention the spoiled Spaniel who is in our care.

No, I texted -- we fine. D2 got a call, too, but was nonplussed -- she figured it was a false alarm. Several calls and texts later, I assured Mike, as well -- no fire in Devonwood.

I came home, and the house was indeed still smoky -- with an acrid smell. Wifey has a diminished sense of smell, so she didn't really notice, but I opened all the windows, and set fans around to try to air things out. As I type this am, the smell remains -- I guess it'll eventually lighten.

But the thing that struck me is how connected we are. One smoke alarm alerted several people in Miami, one in NYC, and our D1 in Europe.

It used to be that when you went away, you were really away. Now, it's a different ball game -- we carry all of our contacts with us, essentially, on our smart phones.

While I was in Paris, I carried on conversations with the Ds the same I do when I'm home -- except I had to account for the 6 hour time difference.  How this world has changed so, and just in my lifetime.

So I'm happy to report no dogs or humans were harmed in the failed making of the eggs. But it's accurate to say that the entire western world was attuned to it.