Joanne Sisco

… and so the week begins.

Just when I’m starting to feel a certain amount of cabin fever from being stuck at home convalescing, the Universe sends me entertainment right outside my front door to amuse me.

Bell Canada has been busy in our area for the past many weeks laying fibre optic cable and today they finally arrived on our very quiet street.

No one comes down this street unless they live here, or are visiting, so any distraction that arrives has been a welcome one.  In other words, I’ve been channeling my inner Gladys Kravitz from Bewitched.

gladys-kravitz
Gladys – found on Pinterest

Trucks have been rumbling up and down the street since early this morning, and finally around mid-afternoon, the large boring vehicle pulled up in front.  My preoccupation with machinery that drills holes in the ground is a testament to my general level of restlessness.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

As the light started to fail, work on the street eventually came to halt.

… but shortly afterwards, then there was a very loud banging on our front door.

I was confronted by flashing lights on the street and one of several firemen going door to door advising us that the gas line was “nicked” during the excavation.  The sharp smell of gas was palatable from the moment I opened the door.

We were advised to keep all windows and doors closed (uh …. it’s cold outside, dude, so no problem).

Our street was then blocked off in both directions from our house.  Hmmm – should I now start to be concerned?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Street blocked off by police and fire vehicles

A short while ago, there was more loud banging on the door … this time it’s one of the repair guys from the gas company.

“Did I know there was a gas leak?”  Yes.

“We’re going to have to turn off the gas.”  Good plan.  I support it.

Our furnace is gas.  Our stove is gas.  Our fireplace is gas.

It’s going to get chilly in here soon … but I rather like the idea of keeping the house intact – not to mention all my body parts that aren’t already broken.

So it seems that even when I’m stuck at home, lying low, minding my own business (or some version of it), trouble still manages to find me.

How has your week started?

102 comments

  7. I think this “tops” my semi-bad or rather hard Monday, Joanne. 😦 Yikes! Did it get cold? Brr-rr!!
    My week was a double tough one since last week I was in a three hamper or “bins” area at my warehouse, this week they gave me a six hamper area. I was ready for a latte or caramel macchiato, but not a tough day back at work. . . at break time we all stood in line in front of the coffee machine, which “broke” or ran out of coffee! by the time I got to the front of the line. . . It will be downhill the rest of the week, I hope! 🙂 I used to like watching “Bewitched!”

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. Scary really – I mean if THEY don’t know where those pesky gas lines are buried then who really does?? What about that oil pipeline they want to run through Toronto…hopefully they’ll have a better idea of where they’ve buried that!! Good luck with all this and hope your neighbourhood is back to boring soon.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • That was our thought too … until Husband had to go out and ask lots of questions.
      We learned that they didn’t actually break the line.
      We live in an older neighbourhood with old infrastructure. Because of these old pipes, they don’t actually ‘dig’ traditionally, but use high water pressure combined with vacuum to remove the soil.
      In this particular case, there was a highly corroded seam in the pipe that was loosened by the water pressure.

      Instead of being the relatively straight-forward repair they were expecting, they had to build a bypass around the badly corroded section.

      … which brings me to the thought … how many of these badly corroded sections are out there just waiting to start leaking?

      Like

      Reply

  10. So glad you are OK! The gas line going into my son’s house burst during the night. His wife heard the noise and thought a sprinkler head was acting up. Thank goodness they did not light a match. Several streets in their neighborhood were blocked off for hours. Scary. I still become emotional when I think what could have happened. Take care, Lori

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  12. As I’m a bit late to the comment party, I’m guessing all is well and you’re now cozy and warm again. Why do those things never happen in summer? My week started much more mundanely: errands, work around the house, and working a tea presentation with my boss in the evening, followed by watching a bit of football (US kind.) Today I work, so hopefully no excitement of this sort there!

    janet

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Unfortunately we are still without heat. Apparently there were many complications and they worked through the night.
      They started restoring gas service to the homes affected about 3 hours ago, but they are doing them sequentially, but guess what? They started at the opposite end, and we’re last!

      I’m not a tea drinker, but since my surgery last week, my stomach has been rather unsettled. I’ve armed myself with several tisanes and combined with the cool temperatures, I think I might become a convert!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  13. My week started on a much better note. After a busy long Thanksgiving weekend, I finally got to sit down and watch the new Gilmore Girls episodes. All is well here and in Stars Hollow. Hope you’re warmer by now.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • No, still no heat on my end … although apparently it will be soon.

      There were a lot of problems and the crews worked through the night. They started restoring service to the individual homes affected a few hours ago, but apparently we’re at the end.

      I never got into Gilmore Girls. Maybe I should give it a look.

      Like

      Reply

    • It’s reaching the point now where I think it’s very funny. I guess that’s the way I cope with stuff. At first I’m all stressed, but eventually I can’t help but laugh.
      There’s no question that 2016 will go into the record books for me 😉

      … but no, we are still without heat. There is a technician on the street right now going from home to home to restore gas service. Unfortunately we are at the opposite end of where he started so we’re last. Shouldn’t be too long now.
      Thankfully it’s relatively mild outside and our space heaters are doing a good job of keeping the chill out of the air … plus I’m bundled up 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  15. Your talent for turning a tale about a boring vehicle into, dare I say, a gas. No I darent, please ignore that bit. Great post, Joanne, I have nothing remotely interesting to relate from the week so far but should the goings on at number 3, with the late night garden excavations and disappearing visitors transpire to be anything of note, I’ll let you know.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Interesting. I would have thought Norway would also have huge natural gas reserves, so I just assumed you also heated with gas.
      Thankfully we don’t heat with electricity. It’s a big problem for us right now because of government mismanagement of the infrastructure (quelle surprise!). We are now seeing rocketing electricity costs to the point where it’s become a crisis because people can’t pay their bills.

      Like

      Reply

      • The electricity here is cheap at the moment. We get almost all of it from hydro, so it’s definitely a renewable source, but they’ve started to export electricity to other European countries and when it’s all market driven, the prices may suddenly rise a lot. We pay for the electricty to one company and then we “rent the cables” from another company, a solution which is extremely retarded. Often renting the infrastructure (that we already paid for by taxes when it was made – back when there was just one state run company that provided both the electricity and the cables) is more expensive than the electricity itself…

        Like

        Reply

        • We have a similar issue here. Taxes pay for the infrastructure, government sells the infrastructure, then we get raped on the rent-back. Stupidity or incompetence … I’m not sure which.

          Like

          Reply

    • Heating is one of those things we tend to take for granted … until it’s not working.
      I am still laughing and I’m especially happy because the gas technician just showed up several minutes ago to restore our gas service 🙂

      Like

      Reply

  18. Ahhhhh, you are too funny. I am smiling ear to ear and at the same time, hoping that you are staying warm!!

    I think you take a good approach… as we obviously can’t impact that which is beyond our control and the most mundane of stuff can be entertaining. 🙂

    Peta

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  19. Yikes! That’s so dangerous. I hope it’s all fixed. I won’t tell you about the gigantic explosion we just had in Portland, Oregon. It blew the windows out in my daughter’s apartment two blocks away. Stay safe, Joanne!

    Like

    Reply

    • Gas explosions are pretty scary stuff. I’ve seen the after-effects of a couple of explosions and it’s serious business.

      I just looked up the Portland story and it’s incredible that no one was killed. Thankfully they had evacuated the building or it would have been bad!

      There were apparently many complications with this gas leak and the crews worked through the night. Gilles and I would wake up every couple of hours and check to see how many emergency vehicles were still on the street 🙂 They started restoring service to the homes shortly after dawn a few hours ago and the technician arrived here just a short while ago.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  21. Loved your exchange when they said they had to turn off the gas. Hope it’s not too late OR too cold before you get to hop into bed.

    Good thing your intuition told you to buy that space heater yesterday! Synchronicity!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I’m glad it hasn’t escalated to high drama or having to be evacuated. I probably wouldn’t have found it so amusing then.
      … but you’re right. It has been an exciting interlude for my cabin fever 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • Thanks Judy 🙂

      Gilles just talked to the police barricading the road (he needed to get back in from his swim group tonight). They’re saying it will be another 2 hours and then they have to go into each home to check all the gas appliances to ensure everything comes back on ok.
      So it looks like we won’t be going to bed until they’re all done.
      Thankfully we have space heaters 🙂

      Like

      Reply

  26. Hey Joanne, I heard about the gas “nick” on CHFI today. Must’ve been quite the snafu. Thank goodness, we’re in a warm snap, eh? Take care and make sure all your body parts are still intact.

    For the past year, we’ve been watching the construction and track repair on the GO train station/line. A lot of white hard-hats (supervisors) and not enough black hard-hats (actual workers) plus way too many runs to Tim Horton’s for coffee. lol! It’s our entertainment on the weekends.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Really?! In Scarborough? That would be too funny. Well, it’s not really funny, but you know what I mean 🙂

      I was just thinking about coffee. For every Timmy’s run for coffee, I’m guessing there has to be a Timmy’s run for the washroom 😉

      Glad to hear I’m not the only one amused by the goings-on outside 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  28. I laughed out loud when I read. “Have you heard there’s a gas leak? We have to shut off the gas.” “Good plan. I support it!” Bwaaahaa! Hilarious!

    I hope they get the line fixed before it gets really cold outside, and you guys stay warm tonight!

    Keep us posted. I’m finding it entertaining. My Monday was pretty blah. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Yeah – my Monday started off pretty blah, but it’s been gaining momentum 😉

      I’ve got the space heater on now so it doesn’t cool off too much. They did a pretty good job of managing my expectations and said it would be 3-4 hours, so I don’t expect them to be finished for another hour or so.

      They’ll need access to the house to check all the gas appliances after they turn the gas back on, so we can’t go to bed until they finish.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  31. I had to laugh that you had to open your door for them to tell you to keep all doors and windows closed. Gotta love it. We have a gas hot water heater so when we lose power due to a hurricane, I love the fact that I can still take a hot shower. But you in Canada, in winter, with no heat…..!!!! I hope it is all fixed.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • The emergency crews are still all there. Police barricading the road on one end, fire truck and gas company vehicles on the other. They did say it was going to be several hours.

      As long as we still have electrical power, I can use space heaters so I’m not worried by freezing 🙂

      … but it is hilarious that they came to the door to say I should kept windows and doors closed – in winter 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  33. LOL! I too support the turning off of gas during a leak!
    It was a very Monday sorta Monday, but I am home now and there is pie and some softy creatures who love me, and the rain sounds so much better from inside the house.
    I hope you stay warm enough 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I can get a little paranoid about gas on occasion, but with so many emergency vehicles out there right now, I’m not worrying so much – that’s their job 🙂

      I do hope it is resolved soon though. I doubt I would be able to sleep if they were all still out there working on it.

      Like

      Reply

    • I really, really, really want to go outside and watch and ask questions … but Shy Joanne says that’s a bad idea. She’s a bit of a wet blanket, but god only knows how much trouble I would have found if I didn’t listen to her most of the time 🙂
      Meantime, I’ll just keep peeking out the window periodically to see if anything new has happened 😉

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  39. This is definitely not funny, but I had to laugh about trouble tracking you down. That’s a little too much excitement and then a real lack of warmth. Hope it all gets solved once the sun rises. My week has been very boring compared to yours – a little online shopping and a little sewing. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Actually I can’t help but laugh. Husband was apoplectic … mostly because he had to go through the police barricade to go to his Master Swim group … but I think it’s amusing.

      I really think I need to get out of the house soon, I might be losing it 😉

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

Leave a comment