Life's A Gas

Thursday night was a bizarre night. Around 9pm I could smell gas, didn't know where it was coming from then all of a sudden the smell went so I though nothing of it. When Vince came home I asked if he could smell gas and he could, but same thing happened. So around 11pm the smell got really strong so I called the gas people and they would send someone, but it would take about 2 hours so they told me to open a window and turn off the gas supply. He arrived about 12.30am and started to check the house and told me there was no leak in the house but the smell of gas was getting stronger. So he went outside to do some testing as there's a gas main outside the house.

He came in and told me to go outside as he found the cause of the leak, he stuck his probe through the letterbox of next door and it was coming from inside their house! He said "I need to be in there" so I was knocking on the window as he was banging on the door to finally wake them up. "Don't switch the light on" shouts the gas man but too late! The guy next door opens the door and the smell of gas just hits you and the gas man runs in and finds out he has left the gas ring switched on. I could hear him bollocking the next door neighbour as he is doing all the checking. So by the time things are sorted it is 2am in the morning and my bedroom is full of gas so the windows are open and I manage to get about 3 hours sleep.

I come home on Friday from work and the guy from next door knocks on the door, he wanted to say sorry and thanks for as he said for saving his life. It seems he was involved in an accident years ago and has no sense of smell. He had got drunk and decided to sort some food out and fallen asleep. The gas had gone out and was pumping gas for about 6 hours in the house, so I don't know if the beer knocked him out or if it was the gas. "It's microwave meals for me from now on" he said I laughed as it was such a strange carry on although he told me him and the gas man didn't get on and it seems they must have had words.

When I think about it, just how much damage a gas leak can cause and the fact me and the gas man were banging on the door trying to wake him up. What if it had ignited and could have blown us up or damaged the houses in the street, but thankfully it didn't happen and it was happy ever after!

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