Spoiler: We Did Not Blow Up

But you probably know that because I posted this.

Andrew came out to meet me when I came home from work.  We walked and talked together as I put my bike in the shed.  As we passed the side of the house, I suddenly paused and asked, "Do you smell gas?"  Yes! we did. By the gas meter.


On into the house, turning on lights to find my files.  Went right to the Safety pamphlet from PG&E.  With the phone number to call should you smell gas.  Actually the first number listed was 911, but that seemed a bit much as nothing was happening. yet? I called the second number, PG&E, and pushed "1" for hazardous situation.  


The lady wanted us to rate how strong the smell was.  I was thinking 7, but Andrew thought 3.  The lady thought we should err on the side of caution and go for 7.  Which put us pretty high up on the dispatch priority list.


We were instructed to stay clear of the area in a safe place and NOT to turn ANYTHING on or off, not even to disconnect the phone at the end of the call.  Of course, once she terminated the call, I reflexively hung up the phone, which I was not supposed to do. Nothing that could remotely cause a spark. We did not evacuate the house, but stayed at the opposite side of the house in the dining room and kitchen area. Joseph even thinking to close the bathroom and my bedroom doors in case a fire did start there.

Well, most of us.  Joseph would not abandon his cat, so he was in the guy's room - the meter is outside one of their walls - trying to catch her which only made her angry.  He almost got her in the carrier, but only succeeded in getting scratched.  Despairing of taking her to safety, he opened the window on the non-meter wall and shooed her outside.  Scraping metal??!! Part of it is plastic.  I think.  Then joined us in the dining room, automatically flipping the switch on the way.  We are really not good at this.

The guys had been watching Harry Potter (1, I think).  When it ended, Benjamin turned all the movie stuff off.  oops  There we go again.

I probably shouldn't have used my cell phone in a failed attempt to post to Facebook either.  But it is not our fault that people kept calling us.  We let the answering machine pick up (as usual)

It is a good thing that the leak was outside and none of it inside or we probably would have blown ourselves up.


It seemed like ages that we waited on Yellow Alert, both nervous and bored, dog on leash thinking she was going to get to go for a walk, but really ready to evacuate if something did blow or to be restrained when the PG&E guy came.  Our incomplete 72 hour kits were near the door.  Including the family cat that Joseph did manage to crate.  Who was NOT happy. (No plan for bird rescue.  Sorry, Mrs Cotton!)  Fortunately, we had pizza which Benjamin had prepared for dinner. (We gave the walk-disappointed dog pizza crust which appeased her somewhat.)  And while it seemed like a long time, it was less than an hour since I got home and the whole thing started before our hero arrived.


Mr PG&E quickly found the leak.  Repaired it and checked around outside and inside the house for any further signs of trouble.  Turned back on the pilot lights for the wall heaters and the water heater. 

Not quite 2 hours after it began our adventure was over.  No explosions.