Gas Leak

So last night I was walking down the stairs to get the mail and I smelled natural gas in the stairway. I thought that was an odd place to smell gas so I called the gas company to report it. They told me it would take an hour to get someone out to check it. When I heard this, I thought are you joking? theoretically a lot of gas could collect in an hour and something could blow up. Unlikely? yes, but still possible. Anyway an hour later the gasman shows up and I show him where I smelled it and he informed me that his little Geiger counter for natural gas wasn't picking anything up. So I told him well, I smelled it and so did my wife. An apartment near by was drying clothes and we could smell the Bounce drier sheet and the gasman asked "are you sure you didn't smell the dryer that is on?"

ARE YOU STUPID! I think in 26 years of life I have learned the difference between the rotten smell of natural gas and the nice spring scent of Bounce. I politely informed Mr. Gasman that I was positive I didn't smell the dryer and left the scene so he could figure it out.

A couple hours later when Kerri and I were leaving we noticed Mr. Gasman still checking things out. Well this morning at 10 AM our entire complex was evacuated, as well as the rest of the block, because someone else smelled natural gas (not to be mistaken for Bounce) and called the company and they found a huge leak outside the apartment. We were evacuated for about 4 hours while the police and fire department let the gas company into each apartment to check for leaks (thankfully there weren't any inside) and they dug to find where it was. It turns out it was on the main line out by the street. However, because of the massive leak, no one was able to go into the underground parking to get in their car because the ignition could ignite any gas that was there. I appreciate the protocol that was followed and understand why people were not allowed to get their car, but I felt bad when I heard that. It was also unfortunate that contractor that came to fix the elevator couldn't do his work either (the elevator hasn't worked for 2 months) but that's OK cause the stairs haven't broken yet.

I know that this incident cannot be blamed on the developer or construction company that built the complex (and it shouldn't be blamed on them), but it just feels like this place as a lot of problems. No drainage system was installed, and the property wasn't graded properly so when it rains/snows pools of water collect everywhere, and stuff drips onto cars and stains them in the garage if you park in the wrong place. It took a week for our refrigerator to arrive when we first moved in, the carpet tacks poke through the carpet, the cabinetry had gouges in it, the counter tops weren't installed as well as they should have been, windows aren't sealed tight, the tub has a crack in it (thankfully it hasn't started leaking), Our landlord fell behind on his payments so the bank assumed collection of the rents in October, the property was foreclosed on in December, our new landlord is the bank. I think that is it but I don't remember.

Now, having said that. with all the problems, our apartment is still really nice, we rent it for a great price, and I am happy (most days) that we have it. I just hope we don't have anymore problems for awhile.

Don't worry a happier post is forthcoming.