What's that noise?

I was the first in the in office this morning, or at least up stairs anyhow. As I am putting my key into the door, I hear this loud buzzing. "What is that?" As I open the door, the alarm is going off. Here's the really odd part... we don't have an alarm! [pause for reaction]

So, I come in, place my things down on my desk, buzz Jacki, and then stare at the little square device that has never, never been activated since I have been here. I start pressing buttons like nothing else. Then Jacki starts pressing buttons like no one else, then I yank the damn thing off the wall. I then grab a screwdriver... don't worry, I didn't do it. I thought about it though, but the idea of death by electrocution stopped me.

Finally our maintenance man, Josh, came in. Flipped the breaker, after finding the right one. Then he left. About a few minutes later, I asked Christine when he was going to turn it off. "It is off."

"Then what is that noise?" After coming to my side of the desk, she heard it too. It sounds exactly like the alarm. Josh came back, heard it, and explained that it was the lights. He couldn't believe that I could hear it, and then I had to inform him of my unusual ears.

I have an odd sense of deafness. There are certain frequencies that I cannot hear. If you whisper around me or talk in a low voice, I won't know what you are saying. However, high pitches are my specialty.

When I was a kid, and of course growing up in the country, we had a lot of those "plug in" pests things. They make a high pitch sound that drive mice and other critters away. I could here them. I am not kidding. I was in the kitchen one day with my mom, and I asked her what that noise was. She had no idea of what I was talking about. So, I got up and started walking around the room trying to locate the source of my sound. Bingo, pests "plug in." She took me to the doctor the next day.