Is Anyone Out There ???

Once upon a time, well a few years ago actually, I bought a wireless doorbell. The push button bit went on my doorframe and the 'bell' unit was like a big plug and slotted into a spare power point in the kitchen. It was a nice doorbell and for a while, it worked just fine.  I was a happy wireless doorbell owner.

Then bizarre things started to happen.  The doorbell would ring when there was no one at the door. Kids playing old fashioned games ?  In this day and age ?  Hardly.  When it went off while I was in the kitchen and so I could 100% see that there was no one at the door, I knew something had to be done.

My brilliant idea was that someone locally had a similar doorbell and so I went for a walk around the streets checking for the tell tale unit on a doorframe.

I didn't find one.

And so the mystery continued.  Thankfully the doorbell only went off like this a couple of times a month at most and never overnight so it wasn't too much of a nuisance.

Then I was outside one day when a neighbour 2 houses down from me came home from work, pulled onto his drive and used his remote car key to lock his car.  And my doorbell rang !!

Mystery solved.  My bell was obviously on the same frequency as his key fob. I didn't know why it only went off infrequently but never mind.  I was ok with that.  I switched the frequency setting and thought that was the end of it.  Then 2 years ago I bought my first ever car with remote door locking.

I think you're probably ahead of me by now.  Yep, MY fob set off my doorbell.  Not always, but enough times to be a pain as often I'd lock my car from inside the house.

Then it was October and when I went to America for the winter I disconnected all electrical items including the doorbell unit.  I just placed it on top of the microwave and that was it.  When I came home the tiny battery in the doorframe unit had died and I never got round to replacing it.  Things went back to the old days and people just knocked on the door.  That was fine by me.

So now it's earlier this week and I'm fixing breakfast in the kitchen.  

I live alone. The tv isn't on yet and since my DIY surgery with the electric drill, I'm not prone to hearing those little voices in my head anymore. 

"Testing 1-2-3.  Testing 1-2-3".

WTF ???   I have a small kitchen and as I was standing close to the microwave I knew exactly where the voice was coming from.  The doorbell unit !!

Now here's the thing; it wasn't plugged in and as far as I was aware, it could only emit a ding dong type noise - certainly not a voice as clear as......well as a bell I guess.  But there it was.  My doorbell had morphed into a walkie talkie or maybe a baby monitor and one that powered itself.

So now I keep it on the table here next to me and every so often I pick it up and whisper into it.......

"I'm here.  When you're ready, get in touch.  And please, whatever you are, come in peace."

I think I need to cancel my subscription to the Sci-fi channel.