FIRE!

there was a fire in the building adjacent to mine tonight.

i was talking on the phone with my mom when i smelled smoke, looked out the window and saw fire in the alleyway, and then heard the fire alarms go off.

you never know what you would do in a situation like this until you are faced with it. here's what i did:

1. stuffed my laptop in my messenger bag.
2. put on some jeans, shoes, and a hoodie.
3. grabbed my track bike.
4. grabbed my car keys.

my rationale:
1. this is gonna take a while, so if i can't come back, i can ride my bike somewhere to wait it out.
2. if my building catches on fire, there is irreplaceable shit on my laptop. i have photos too, but i didn't wanna carry that crap. theres photos of my dad before he passed away (most importantly) on my laptop.
3. if i gotta go somewhere, i can throw all my crap in my car to store it. hell, i could even sleep in my car if i have to.


i'm also the resident manager for this building. however, i didn't take it upon myself to:

1. make sure all 40 units worth of residents are evacuated, if they are home. i figured the alarm, smoke, and people running down the stairs was fair warning. i'm no hero.

2. i didn't know how to turn off the alarm. after the fire was out, it seemed fine to return to our unharmed building, but that damned alarm was still going off. i called the building maintenance guy and was on hold when other tenants had already rounded up a fireman to turn of the "fire box," which i didn't even know we had.

3. note to self: next time, it would be good to grab that key. and also the building keys too.


i'm lucky i live alone now and didn't have to rescue any pets. and although its not my most expensive bike, i learned that my favorite is my track bike.