The Slice: Home maintenance plan required lower expectations

It seemed a smoke detector in Florence Young’s home had started doing that low-battery chirping late one night.

It did not make for sound sleep.

The next day, they brought in a ladder to reach up to the 14-foot ceiling. They replaced batteries in two smoke detectors. It was a bit of a project.

But problem solved, right? Well, not quite. The chirping was not emanating from one of the smoke detectors.

Said Young, “It was coming from the carbon monoxide detector plugged into a hall outlet located 8 inches above the floor.”

Slice answer: “I am not getting enough sleep because our cat is still on daylight time,” wrote Glen Jones. “I know this problem will go away in two months but in the meantime he wakes me up an hour early in order to have a lap while I work the morning’s crossword. Any errors in this email are due to his help as I write this.”

One reader’s cry for help: “Now here is a serious question,” wrote Slice reader Myron Molnau. “I LOVE eggnog. What mysterious force is it that makes eggnog disappear from the grocers’ shelves the day after Christmas or very soon thereafter? Don’t people drink eggnog any time except December? Is there something in the water that turns off the eggnog taste buds?

“I once tried to make my own but it was a disaster of the first order.

“Does anyone in the area carry eggnog year around or at least most of the year? HELP! I am suffering serious withdrawal pangs.”

Pets and their preferences: “Every pet knows who is best for what within the household residents and regular visitors,” wrote Joel Shank. “Since our feline Notch adopted us eight and a half years ago when we moved here, he has learned who gives the best head massages and, most importantly to him, just how hard to slap me on my CPAP mask (continuous positive airway pressure) to roust me from a sound sleep early in the morning.”

Today’s Slice question: Are any closets in your home so crammed they almost challenge the laws of physics?