Home Improvements, Part 3 or The Natural Gas Leak

I know that it is odd to start with Part 3, but this just happened about an hour ago and it is still fresh in my head. Don't worry I will get to Parts 1 and 2.

First a little history, my wife and I and our kids moved into our new house in July of 2004. It is actually a new home that we had built. It will be the source of many stories to come (trust me).

Since we moved in there have been several things that needed to be finished, most importantly the sidewalk alongside the house and the putting in the backyard. Our house is located in a brand new sub-division and we have been waiting for our neighbor's house to be finished before tackling these projects. When I say tackling these projects what I mean is "paying someone to put in the sidewalk and yard". I work on a computer all day and as my wife is more than willing to tell complete strangers, I am not handy. Besides that most times when I do it myself, things...um go awry.

Part 1 - Make way for the sidewalk
We decided to go ahead an put the sidewalk and yard in this month because the weather has been unusually nice for February in Oregon. We are having a someone from my wife's church do the work as he does contract work on the side. "Bob" even has an employee - "Dj" (Names have been changed to protect the semi-innocent). So they start digging out the passage beside my house with a small tractor when lo and behold, "Dj" hits the main water line to my house. Fortunately they got the water turned off at the street. So what was supposed to be an hour job turned into a six hour job + plumbing repair that I am still not certain is right.

Score:
House - 1 / Al - 0

Part 2 - My Backyard vs. Pizza
The weather is starting to get worse now and "Bob" has decided we need to get the yard in as soon as possible. He tells me that "Dj" will get the backyard tilled and rolled and start on the sod on Monday. He will come over around 5:00pm and help "Dj" finish up. "Dj" shows up about 10:00am to start tilling the backyard (BTW the backyard is not much bigger than a postage stamp). About 45 minutes in he asks to use the phone at 11:00am. I say sure and at 11:00am he makes a phone call and then takes off. One thing I forgot to mention, the tiller and roller were on a 4 hour rental. So after about an hour, I start worrying. I don't know what is going on, I don't have "Bob's" phone number and we are burning daylight. So my wife has an ingenius idea, she calls the last number called on the telephone to try and get a number for "Dj". "Dj" answers the phone, he is at JC's Pizzeria having lunch. My wife asked what was going on and he replies, "I am having lunch." So about an hour later, "Dj" is back on the case. He spends well over an hour finishing the tilling and rolling the backyard. So now he is off to return the equipment and get the sod. "Bob" and "DJ" start laying the sod around 5:00pm. I go out and help, because I am at least qualified to shlep sod. We finish in total darkness around 8:00pm. Quite damp as it has been sprinkling steadily for about an hour. But it is done, we are almost home free...

Score:
House - 1 / Al - 1

Part 3 - Smoke'em if you got'em
So back to today's fun. There were just a few last forms needed built before we can pour concrete. With any luck it will be poured tomorrow. So I am at work this afternoon when I get a frantic call from my wife. "Yeah, they were finishing up the forms and 'Dj' hit the natural gas line." "What do you mean hit the natural gas line?", I ask. "He was putting down the spikes for the form and he went right through the gas line, he heard it start hissing and called 'Bob'". "Dj" was at the door at this point so she needed to call me back. So she calls back a few minutes later, she is starting to panic "DJ just left, I heard the truck and he was pulling away." It was at this point I am beginning to picture my neighborhood in a firestorm, houses falling down, mushroom cloud overhead, etc, etc. My wife said that "DJ" assured her it was ok, because he "put the spike back in". I think that spike shaped shrapnel is the best, don't you? My wife calls me back about 5 minutes later and says "Bob" is there and everything is under control, the gas company is on their way.

So I get my gear and quickly head home, hoping against hope that my home and my neighbor's house will be intact. As I drive into my neighborhood things are looking good, no fleeing crowds, no smoke or signs of impact damage. I pull up and park, smelling the air for gas fumes. I don't smell anything. But as I do get closer I start to smell something...Marlboro Reds. "Dj" and Worker #3 (who I have never seen before) are happy as clams smoking away. So I ask in my most unassuming voice: "Everything Ok? I heard we had a problem?" "Oh yeah, it's all fixed the gas company was here 20 minutes ago", DJ informs me. "Great", I say; "Cause otherwise smoking would be not such a great idea right now huh?" That gets a big laugh. Then "Dj" explains what happened. "I drove the spike in and then I smelled gas, so I threw my cigarette down and got out of there!" Let me reiterate: HE WAS SMOKING WHEN HE BROKE THE NATURAL GAS LINE AND THEN THREW DOWN HIS CIGARETTE AND RAN AWAY. The fact that my house is still standing is a miracle. The fact that he still has eyebrows is a miracle. We have got to get this cement down quickly. I cannot be the first guy in history to blow up his neighborhood while laying cement! Hopefully there will not be a part 4 to this story...

Score:
House - 2 / Al - 1