F'n Fire Drills

[bbp07]

Why oh why must the university's DRA put us through hell at 700am with a fire drill!!!!!! I know it must be for insurance reasons or some shit like that. But seriously if we can't get ourselves up and out of the dorm when an alarm goes off then maybe we shouldn't be away from mommy and daddy in the first place. After all I think it makes me desensitized to it anyway. I layed in bed for a good minute or two this morning when DRA had its f'n fire drill. I figured it was the Tuesday alarm test, but when it didn't go off, I slowly got dress and made my way out into the cold morning air. I thought about not going... what could they do about it... I'm moving out of here this weekend anyway. Thank God! But then I decided that I must go for the .0000000001% doubt that I had that it was the real deal. And I can never get back to sleep afterwards. I lay their pissed off that they are treating us like we're 5 and that they choose to do the f'n drill before sunrise... every f'n time! And that they choose to test the alarm every f'n tuesday at 9am... nevermind those that may still be sleeping! This morning I saw a girl that decided to go for a morning run instead of participate in the drill... You're my hero! and I wished I would have thought of that too... that is, if I was a morning person, I would rather run at 2am than move before 8am. : ) Thanks for letting me vent.

Does anyone feel this way or have any thoughts or anything to add?

Cheers.

[Cain]

: ) Thanks for letting me vent. Cheers.

We haven't "let" you vent. In fact, because you didn't ask for Official Venting Permission, the mods are going to come round to yours tomorrow at some point (possibly 2am, possibly 3) and shake you out of bed.

Then it'll get nasty.

[bbp07]

: ) Thanks for letting me vent. Cheers.

We haven't "let" you vent. In fact, because you didn't ask for Official Venting Permission, the mods are going to come round to yours tomorrow at some point (possibly 2am, possibly 3) and shake you out of bed.

Then it'll get nasty.

Great! Bring it on. No need to shake, I'll be up then... probably playing some xbox game.

[Fawksie]

7 am? That's fucking luxury. When I was in Regs they were significantly earlier in the morning than that, and the sub-wardens insisted on doing them two or three days on the trot in a childish effort to punish us for not evacuating 100% of the people on the list.

[Thalia]

You're much better off living in Fife or Albany Park - having lived in Fife Park for two years and then gone into private accom, I've never had to suffer a fire drill and never will

[orudge]

You're much better off living in Fife or Albany Park - having lived in Fife Park for two years and then gone into private accom, I've never had to suffer a fire drill and never will

*makes note to set off the fire alarm at 3am*



*realises his flatmates would probably murder him and decides not to*

[Duggeh]

You're much better off living in Fife or Albany Park - having lived in Fife Park for two years and then gone into private accom, I've never had to suffer a fire drill and never will

You weren't around when there was the real fire then? I did not enjoy coming back from LIDL to the sight of that fire engine.

[the Empress]

I don't recall our fire alarm going off even though the house was full of smoke now I think about it . . . . and I was writing an essay so was totally ignoring the person banging on the door for ages. So, good job it wasn't too serious in the end!

[orudge]

It's kind of typical - our fire alarm in Orkney would go off pretty much any time we cooked anything. The one time there was actually a fire (Dad had left the chip pan on and got distracted by something, hilarity ensues), the alarm doesn't go off.

[gemsaph]

you guys obviously didn't hear about uni hall last year then if three fire alarms a semester makes you let off this much steam...we hit about that each week, it got to the point that none of us were sleeping, people were getting phobias about sleeping in their rooms. You poor people having to deal with the bare minimum of fire alarm calls to keep up with the fire saftey procedures in halls of residence. x

[James.C.]

yeah, i can remember in new hall in my first year (two years ago now) that in one week we had 2 or 3 fire alarms as people were drunkenly coming in and deciding it would be hilarious to set them off. very very annoying, the scheduled ones were slightly annoying but they have to be done so i can't see why you can complain.

[Hennessy]

When I was running around DRA portering during the summer we had paying guests in once, and set the fire alarms off at 9am, only to find we had been given the wrong key for the box to turn them off. Cue dashing about as bleary-eyed guests popped their heads out of the doors to ask what was up.

Fire drills are a waste of time, imo, they take the immediacy and urgency out of a fire alarm and make people complacent. One per year would probably be enough to keep you on your toes,

[Gubbins]

Unfortunately, the Health and Safety Executive has deemed it a legal requirement for halls (and I believe all places of work) throughout the country to have a fire drill each semester. I'm a little hazy on the details, but I believe it should be carried out when the majority of workers (or in this case residents) are in the building, hence doing it at ungodly hours of the morning.

In the olden days, in Chattan, most of ours happened at about 2am. Having now left university halls after seven glorious years, I never stopped being treated like a five-year-old. That said, the looks of contempt at said treatment became more effective once I became older than the people conducting the drill.

[Jono]

I propose karmatic retribution. Mind you, the double-felony of deliberately setting a warden's residence on fire and sabotaging their fire equipment would probably result in a lenghtly jail sentence. I wouldn't recommend it!

[steelegbr]

The complaint about 7am.... I'm on the way to catching a bus or working by that time in the morning. An exam on a Saturday ends up being a lie in.

Yes, unfortunately fire drills are required and we put up with them. At least it's not 3am in tented accommodation with an american military person screaming at you.... (I've actually done that one).

[Guest]

I cant believe you are complaining about 1 fire alarm at 7am. In New Hall we had 4 in one week, last semester. With about 10 the whole semester. The police and fire brigade came in 2 weeks ago to have a talk with us about it, and 3 people were suspended from hall.

[bbp07]

I cant believe you are complaining about 1 fire alarm at 7am. In New Hall we had 4 in one week, last semester. With about 10 the whole semester. The police and fire brigade came in 2 weeks ago to have a talk with us about it, and 3 people were suspended from hall.

That's specious reasoning. It shouldn't have happened to either of us even once, much less to me once and to you 4 times.

[creepy old man]

Those Tuesday morning tests in DRA scared the daylights out of me every week.

[Cain]

. At least it's not 3am in tented accommodation with an american military person screaming at you.... (I've actually done that one).

Did you spend your gap year at Guantanamo bay?

[bbp07]

Those Tuesday morning tests in DRA scared the daylights out of me every week.

Me too! it doesn't matter if I'm still sleeping or up and doing things around the apartment, my heart leaps out of my chest and my blood rushes...