Gas troubles

As has been mentioned in previous (recent) posts, it has been rather unpleasantly cold recently. Flint, being the underfunded disaster that it is, is crumbling around us and I regularly drive on roads 6 or 7" under slushy water, evidence of yet another burst water main. (The exciting part is when the city fails to fix the problem and that slush turns to a solid lake of bumpy ice stretching across several lanes of roads.) There is a section of piping under our street that bursts every winter so it was really only a matter of time. So I wasn't too surprised to see the deep slush surrounding a geyser of bubbling water about eight houses down from us. The water ran unchecked for about a week and, finally, I saw the city trucks down there, with various workers doing who knows what in a giant, 8 foot deep hole. By the time I got home from work that night, the workers and trucks were gone, and the hole was patched up. Naturally enough, a few days later the asphalt patching started sinking, a sure sign of the problem not being fixed. About a week later, we had a giant hole filled with burbling water. Then, a few days later (this was last week), more patching appeared. (All of this is a repeat of last year, when a main broke in exactly that same spot and the city spent at least 3 months patching and repatching, making the whole bigger each time. By the time they were finished, they had removed a giant maple tree that had been growing in front of a neighbor's house along with about 10' strip of front yard, sidewalk and curb.) Then early this week, hoardes of Consumers Energy trucks appeared, with lights flashing, all down the street. I only saw them early in the morning when I took either Thomas or Frederick to school, or in the early evening when we were coming home or going to the FIM. They were there every day, slowly working their way closer to our house. Thursday they were working on the house right across from us, and on one two or three houses down the way. None the wiser, I was relieved that we were not having whatever problems seemed to be plaguing everyone else. Then, with temps about 15 below freezing, I noticed that we didn't have any hot water, no central heating and the stove didn't work. Since we have a history of battling an unreliable oven igniter, our central heating thermostat, and stories of Flint water ruining plumbing and water heaters abound, I assumed that we were just experiencing the cumulative effects of living in a house with damaged and unreliable appliances. By dinner time, with still no heating, hot water or any way to cook/bake anything, we were getting pretty snappish. [Simon adds snarkily, "Yes, WE were.] I walked down the street (because no one else was willing to get off their ass) to talk to one consumers energy worker. He insisted that their repairs did not involve shutting off gas lines. He suggested I put a work order in to Consumers Energy and tell them that we had a broken meter. Slightly mystified but too cold to argue, I went back and called in. They guy I talked to listened very politely, repeated back everything I told him, and then said, "So you are saying you smell gas." No, I didn't say anything of the kind. "I'm going to put in a work order for a suspected gas leak and workers will be there within an hour." He then bid me good day and hung up. About 30 minutes later two ladies in giant padded neon Consumers Energy coveralls (who had been working just 5 houses down) arrived to check for a leak. Of course they didn't find one, but they were very sympathetic to our troubles. They then said they would "check outside." We heard nothing for a few minutes and then heard clanging, banging and arguing just outside our front window. A few minutes later they came back, told us they'd replaced our meter and explained the problem: Flint city workers, when "fixing" the water mains down the street, had failed to completely seal the pipe(s) and leaking water had entered the gas line (are they porous?), the water froze, and now everyone on our street is having problems with their gas lines. After installing the meter they lit all the pilots and told us to "bleed out" our gas lines by leaving all our burners and oven on for a while. I don't understand what a new meter got us, but there you go. All that mattered is that we were back in business. Here is the new meter, which looks a lot like the old one: Since the drama of Thursday evening, we have lost gas service four times that I know of. Simon has gotten fairly adept at lighting pilots. It's most tedious when you start cooking something, set a timer, and then go off to do something else (like WORK!) and then find that the gas has gone out in the middle of the cooking process, leaving your noodles a tepid sludge. I have also spent 26 minutes trying to cook a soft-boiled egg. Since the ladies were working all day yesterday and are still at it this morning, it seems reasonable to conclude that the battle between the city and utilities company continues. Perhaps this is new norm.