Hilarious coincidence...

[Docmayhem]

A CO (carbon monoxide) detector doesn't detect gas leaks (which are butane/propane/methane mixes). It detects poor combustion from an incorrectly operating gas hob or fireplace or stove.

Carbon monoxide is odourless and poisonous, which is why it needs a machine to detect it. Gas has methane in the mix *precisely* because it smells bad, and is therefore detectable by most humans.

Just to clarify: natural gas is mostly methane, which is odorless. Typically (at least in the US) utility companies will add chemicals like butyl mercaptan to make is smell bad as a safety precaution.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Me too Unforunately, I'm not joking most of the time

It's a good thing that smoke detectors are manufactured to beep periodically when they need new batteries. It annoys me so much I have to change it.

A good way to remember when to change the batteries on a smoke detector is when we're either switching from Standard Time to Daylight Savings Time in the spring or back to Standard Time in the fall.

As far as the timing Ree experienced on the detector . . . a comedy writer couldn't have come up with better timing.