smell that?

I went to put a load of clothes in the dryer around 10:30 p.m. As I did, I noticed the scent of gas. It seemed to be coming from inside the dryer. I closed and opened the door a few times just to check my nose. Yes, it was gas. I went upstairs to get J.D., who had just taken off his shoes. He put them back on. But when he was downstairs with me this time we didn't smell the gas. We only smelled the clothes beginning to dry.

J.D. said it was fine. He's trying to sleep now, since he has to get up at 6:00 a.m. to go in extra early for work.

I am not so easily pacified. I looked up "dryers/gas smells" online and found the consistent advice to call with even a light scent.

So I called Quadrangle's emergency number and spoke to a woman there. She took my report and called someone at Quadrangle's maintenance. He said it was OK, it was probably just the dryer failing to ignite or spark and a slight build-up of gas, but that everything would be fine, and he would send someone in the morning. He said the fact that it was there at first but then we didn't notice it 2-3 minutes later was significant. But I wasn't convinced.

So I called Laclede Gas. They took me very seriously. She said it was the right thing to call, even with a slight, disappearing scent. I just got off the phone with them. They told me to leave lights off that were off. Leave things on that were on. But they said it would take 60-90 minutes for someone to come inspect it. So, now I'm just waiting. In the meantime, I figured I might as well blog about it, especially since the computer was already on. I figure it doesn't hurt to have a record of such things either.

P.S. Love you. :)

P.P.S. Update. The Laclede guy arrived around 12:30. Oh man, J.D. is going to be upset. They're in the basement right now making all sorts of noise, although I asked them to please be as quiet as possible. The guy came to the front door and rang the buzzer multiple times. He said "Gas Man." (Odd way of introducing yourself, but true). He walked through my apartment to get to the back door and basement entry. If he would have come to the back door like I requested when I put in the call we could have avoided waking J.D., scaring the kitties, and making more unnecessary noise. Also he had to navigate his big bucket of tools around J.D.'s bicycle by the front door-- but whatever. People don't listen. I didn't listen myself, so I guess I can't slight others too much for the same thing.

Initially, he inspected things around the dryer. He has a meter that clicks rapidly when it detects gas. He waved it around various pipes. Then he walked over to the gas meter on the wall. After that, he called one of his buddies and said, "Hey, do you want to work late?" (Oh great, now I hear a loud BUZZZZZZ sound. Like a mini chain saw). Please, please still be asleep J.D. Although I don't know how that could be possible. They are directly under the bedroom, and I'm across the apartment. J.D. is so tired from work. . . and then I go and do this.

But Gas Man said there is a little leak. He said the meter was off. So, I guess I did the right thing, right? Also he said they may have to shut down the gas for the entire building. Great. Guess who would be to blame for that: Miss Can't-Leave-Things-Well-Enough-Alone. Still, exploding is probably not fun (of course, that's a highly improbable worst case scenario by far).

Hopefully J.D. will forgive his anxious wife for a bad night's sleep and LONG day at work tomorrow. Blame it on my Watterson nose. . . we just smell things rather well.

P.P.P.S. Apparently our basement is leak heaven. He called me down to show me the problems. I think he said almost every line had a leak of some varying size. They shut off gas to the whole building. No stove. No heat. No hot water. Sorry neighbors. He said the pipes in the building are around a 100 years old. It's true the landlord collects rent every month but doesn't put any back into the actual building. Still, they won't be happy, that's for sure. But we have a right to be safe. I did what I had to do.

Goodnight. 1:36 a.m.