Yeah, So, I Did This

Okay, so it wasn't exactly my fault. Friday afternoon, I went downstairs to do laundry. While there, I smelled natural gas strong enough to give me a headache. We have a new upstairs neighbor so I thought maybe they had turned on her gas, but I was worried that they had left a leak. So, still in my uber-aware mode from housing days (or years rather), I called it in.

Here's where I made my mistake: I thought they would just send someone to check it out and make sure the hookup was done correctly. Oh, no. Instead, they sent:

3 fire engines

2 marked police cars

4 unmarked police cars

1 ambulance

all with sirens and lights ON.

The firemen checked out the building, the paramedics offered to give me an exam (which I declined), I completed a police report and answered neighbors questions, and everyone went on their merry way. At that point, I thought everything was done and was fully prepared to laugh at the entire situation. Afterall, I would prefer a bit of drama after I called, than to have a fire or explosion.

Then part two happened - the lady from the gas company came with her gas sensor to check for leaks. She spent a LONG time in the basement (where all eight sets of washers and dryers are for the entire builidng, along with eight furnaces and eight water heaters). When she came back up, she said she had found a small leak on our neighbors' furnace lines so she turned the lines off (no big deal - NO ONE is going to use their furnace this time of year in St. Louis).

She then continued on to say that she also found numerous gas leaks in our lines. So many that she had to turn off ALL of our gas until our landlord fixed the lines. By this time it was 4 pm on Friday afternoon. I called the landlord and they called someone to fix the lines, but they couldn't come until this morning (Monday).

While being without gas all weekend, wasn't great it wasn't too bad either. Here's why:

-As I said before no one misses their furnace this time of year in St. Louis.

-Our stove is an electric one.

-We still have water and electricty (thus, central air).

-Because we live in St. Louis and the water heater is in the non-airconditioned basement, the water isn't frigid - showering is like swimming in an outdoor pool. Not pleasant, not painful.

-Because dishes aren't easily done without hot water, we ordered pizza for dinner Friday night so I didn't have to cook!

Now, it's mid-morning Monday, and I still haven't heard from anyone. I am hoping someone is downstairs working. I guess we'll see what the rest of the day brings. I think we are all ready for a warm shower and a good laugh about the whole situation. (I am reserving my heartiest laughter until the gas is back on.)