Memory lane revisited

I should have kept my mouth shut.  Someone has obviously taken up Sarah Toa's suggestion of quietly breaking into the entrance to the secret street without permission last night, but they were not so quiet.

I awoke (late) this morning to the monotonous and continuous high-pitched scream of a siren from 'Ducking Stool Lane' which is part of the building's alarm system, and it still screams on as I write.  Sitting in the kitchen of our compact but adorable city apartment is not so adorable at the moment, and I have to get out of it to preserve my sanity, every 5 minutes or so.

The trouble is that the building is unoccupied and I do not have a key-holder's number to get them to turn up and switch the bloody thing off.  I know from past experience that it does not turn itself off, so - it being saturday - it may carry on all day and all night right through into next week, making our lives hell.

I have called the local police to see if they have a contact number, and they said they would do their best, but somehow I doubt if they will find anyone before monday, when I myself can call up the office.

Can you keep a secret, you ask?  Obviously not, and now I am paying the price.  Maybe it is the planning office punishing me for the previous post?  (You see, I told you the sound was driving me mad...)

Oh well, just to keep our spirits up, I'll tell you a joke that someone emailed to me yesterday.  Cro went through a bit of mid/late life despondency yesterday, so this one is dedicated to him:

A group of chaps, all aged 40, discussed where they should meet for lunch.

Finally it was agreed that they would meet at the Ocean View restaurant because the waitresses there were gorgeous, with tight skirts and big boobs. 

Ten years later, at age 50, the friends once again discussed where they should meet for lunch.

Finally it was agreed that they would meet at the Ocean View restaurant because the food and service was good and the wine selection was excellent.
 
Ten years later, at age 60, the friends again discussed where they should meet for lunch.

Finally it was agreed that they would meet at the Ocean View restaurant because they could dine in peace and quiet and the restaurant had a beautiful view of the ocean.
 
Ten years later, at age 70, the friends discussed where they should meet for lunch.

Finally it was agreed that they would meet at the Ocean View restaurant because the restaurant was wheelchair accessible and had an elevator.
 
Ten years later, at age 80, the friends discussed where they should meet for lunch.

Finally it was agreed that they would meet at the Ocean View restaurant because they had never been there before.