Recycling..

This isn't so much about fixing something in the house so much as it is about making something out of something that was here in the house when we moved in..

The old guy who previously owned (and died in) this house was apparently a very paranoid and anxious old dude. Not only are there security cameras on both the front and back porches, an alarm system complete with motion detector, heat sensors, and warning siren with battery back-up..





..but among the things found left behind in the house were an incomplete set of "Anxiety Coaching" self-help videotapes..



At some point before we actually started moving stuff into the house, I decided that I was tired of seeing the light of the motion-detector and knowing that electricity was being wasted on this alarm system that wasn't even being monitored by the alarm system company, since the old guy had been dead for quite some time, so I disarmed the system by simply unplugging it:



What I hadn't counted on, however, was the fact that the system apparently had some kind of battery back-up for when power failures or whatever might happen to occur -- after all, PARANOIA NEVER SLEEPS. What I also didn't know was that the alarm system apparently had some kind of built-in warning signal for when the battery backing-up the system was getting low on power. Because a couple of days after I unplugged the system, Kat and I were standing in the livingroom after bringing a few things over from the apartment, talking quietly, looking curiously at the little alarm control box, when suddenly:

BWEEEEP!! BWEEEEP!! BWEEEEP!! BWEEEEP!! BWEEEEP!! BWEEEEP!! BWEEEEP!!

The siren started going off! I ran down to the basement, wondering what the heck to do, since I'd already pulled the plug on the system.. All I could do was whip out my pocket knife and - snip! - cut the power line to the siren!

yeesh..

A few weeks later on, it occurred to me it might be fun/useful/interesting to see if I could use this siren for something else, maybe some kind of musical instrument? Right about then I was asked to do a solo performance as part of a series of noise/drone/experimental music evenings at a nearby coffee house, and immediately I knew I had to work the siren into my performance!

I removed the siren from its place on the basement ceiling, checked the back of it where it said it needed 9 volts of power, and tried attaching a little 9V battery to its power cord.. Sure enough: BWEEEEP!! BWEEEEP!! BWEEEEP!! BWEEEEP!! BWEEEEP!!

Perfect!

So today, after a little digging around at Radio Shack for a 9V battery snap connector and something I could use for a footswitch, I rigged myself up a little foot-switchable siren dealy -- voila!:



Not sure how well this is going to go down in my performance, but it was kinda fun to make..