4am knocks

on friday morning just before 4am, jack started to bark....it was his protect the house bark....now, the tenant's children come over every morning just before 5am, and not knowing at the time the barking started, i assumed it was the children....so, i called jack to come back, but he just kept barking....

then i heard knocking on my door....i couldn't imagine who was knocking on my door, so i got up and asked, "who is it?"  it was the tenant's girlfriend....now, she has a little kid voice...it's high pitched and whiny....she proceeds to say to me through the door- "jen, there is a gas leak in our apartment...you have to get out now."  it takes me a few seconds to comprehend what she is saying to me and I say, "oh, ok."

i then proceed to get dressed, get the dogs, think about if i should try to get the cats together....i decide that the cats will be okay and the house probably isn't going to explode....i go outside and there are the tenants....they proceed to tell me that they could smell gas in the apartment, so they called 911 and NYSEG....i asked if the heat was on in the apartment, because there had been some furnace issues and i thought maybe the pilot light had gone out again....but the girlfriend told me she shut the heat off, so she didn't know....so, we wait...

within minutes the state police arrive....they ask who made the call, who is the owner, and what the issue was....they then proceeded into the house....they come out a few minutes later and say, "we don't smell anything, but the fire department should be here shortly and they can tell us."  then the fire chief arrived, he went inside and came out saying the same thing- didn't smell anything, but the fire truck would have a detector on it, so that should tell them something....

so, now i am standing outside my house, in the chilly weather, and up pulls a fire truck....i haven't seen a fire truck at my residence since i lived on campus....but there it was....a fire truck, the chief's SUV, and the state police....the fire people went into the apartment with a machine that is made to detect gas....after about 5 minutes they came out to say they machine didn't detect anything....great! let's go back to bed...but no, we have to wait for NYSEG to arrive and clear everything...

we wait about 15 minutes for the NYSEG man to arrive...meanwhile, the dogs are getting whiny...the way i assume a child would get whiny about having to stand outside in the cold at 4am....i put them into the car and turn it on- because i have taken the keys in case i have to leave the house....the man finally arrives and enters the house with the chief....when they come back out, the NYSEG man tells me the smell is from the stove and carbon build up....he says he will come back in and show us and turn down the pilot light...

the chief pulls me aside and informs me about a new law about carbon monoxide detectors....i asked how i would know, he said from the radio and tv....i don't really listen to the radio and lately only watch tivo tv....anyway, he also says the smoke detectors have been taken apart and while he understands that it's not me who did it, i am still the landlord...great- he hands me a form that states i am in violation of these two codes....great.

in the house, the NYSEG man turns down the pilot and then informs me, in front of the tenants, that the stove is old and maybe should be replaced....i turn to him, remember at this point it's almost 5am, and say, "are you a stove expert?"  shocked the man asked me to repeat myself....i do and when he tells me he is not, i say, "great, because i would assume a stove expert would know best if a stove is not usable anymore." he then explains that his reasoning is that the gas takes approximately 2 seconds to come on with the stove....i just stared at him....in my head all i can think is, "every gas stove i have ever used takes a second or two to start."  really, nyseg man, really?!

in the end, there was no gas leak...the pilot light on the stove was too high and causing a carbon build up on the metal of the stove...this was the smell that lead to my 4am wake up call.