Why I'm up at 5 am

A) I went to bed early.

B) when I woke up around 3:40 something smelled bad.

First it smelled like something burning. Maybe something plastic? I went into the utility room to unplug the space heater I'd turned on yesterday in there (the room was a late add-on to the house and gets no heated air from the furnace except through the kitchen). The smell was much worse in the kitchen, but not particularly concentrated around the heater, which was barely warm. I unplugged it anyway. Standing in the kitchen it occurred to me it smelled slightly sulpheric, which could be the smell they add to natural gas. I went back in the utility room to check the carbon monoxide detector--plugged in and green. I went back to bed.

But I was fretting.

The smell wasn't getting any better. I wasn't sure if natural gas would trip a carbon monoxide detector. If I was really worried, I told myself, I should open a window. I opened the window at the head of my bed, and immediately got a headache. then I was really worried.

So I got up, got dressed, went upstairs and called the gas company. I described the situation to the guy on the phone. He asked me a few questions and confirmed that a carbon monoxide detector will often not detect natural gas. Then he ordered me out of the house.

So I'm waiting for someone to come check the house for a gas leak. I sat in the car for a little while but then the reflection of the laundromat in my mirror reminded me it has a fine view down my street. So now I'm there. It's a little chilly, but I'm not wasting gas like I was running the car, and I can move around to stay warm.

And there's power so I can play with my new iPhone 3Gs or my computer while I'm waiting. The computer was helpfully in the laptop case by the door when I left, so what the heck-I grabbed it. The bag also has my passport in it, so at least I'll have that if the house blows up.

*sigh*

I wonder how long it will take them to get here?

I will say this: there's more traffic around here at 5 am than I expected.

(no subject)

Vectren is here, thinks it smells like a skunk, and so far has not detected natural gas.

There's no skunk smell on the outside of the house...

Edited to add: he says he's detected what seems to be a small leak by the meter, which is in the basement by the furnace. He's going to try to fix it.

Edited again to add: he replaced all the washers and nuts on the meter and says the leak is fixed. He also complemented my sense of smell. The house still smells bad so I left some windows open and went to a local cafe for breakfast.

(no subject)

I feel like a bit of a zombie today, but very glad I woke up when I did...

Pearl Bay - thai lunch relaxation

Just had a really nice lunch at a relatively new Thai restaurant in Fairborn called Pearl Bay. It's a non-descript building on Dayton-Yellow Springs Rd that used to be a Lee's Chicken place, but they transformed the interior so it's really very pretty and, well, Thai.

Today I had the Hot and Sour chicken soup, with Fresh Spring Rolls to begin. It was just what I needed to relax and feel healthy again.

zer_netmouse tweets of the day

• 15:38 Thinking fondly of my Thai Hot and Sour soup lunch at Pearl Bay in Fairborn netmouse.livejournal.com/649315.html #

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