Fatalities averted

The move's not a total disaster, yet. Today I had to call in a gas emergency. The gas man came out and discovered two leaks, plus that the stove was not up to code.

To give a little background, this management company doesn't really "show" people apartments for rent. Instead, the management gives them keys and let them look by themselves, with a stipulation that they'd report something wrong, like a burned out bulb and such.

When I first saw the apartment, I noticed an odor that reminded me of gas. Now, I was immediately skeptical, because I thought this management company couldn't be sending people into enclosed, vacant apartments that are full of gas. But, I did report it on the day I turned in the credit check application, which was a Saturday. I reported it as a smell that was "like gas," but probably not. The regular manager for that apartment wasn't there. The woman I reported it to said that I should tell the manager on Monday. She added that they hadn't got done cleaning it and bringing it up to spec.

Good, I thought, they would find the source of that probably not-quite-gas smell, which I thought was probably the result of grime under the stove-top. I trusted, though, that it would be taken care of, that the woman I talked to would leave a message for the manager, or that the maintenance crew would go through and clean. Then I went on vacation.

I thought no one would rent out an apartment that had an obvious gas leak, and that was a grave, though not fatal mistake. Yesterday I could still detect the smell, though I didn't feel light headed or get a headache or anything like that. Besides, on the stove, the pilot lights were on. No way would there be free gas with that. Wrong again, using errors to support errors.

Last night, I probably would have felt the effects, except instead of staying there and cleaning, I got locked out when the lock jammed first time I locked it. So, I waited for the locksmith and didn't get to clean. Today, I had planned to clean that stove under the surface, and first I was going to shut off those pilots. I don't like pilots on stoves anyway, I was going to use a striker.

I opened the top, and the air conditioner blew the pilots out. I don't smoke. I wasn't planning on relighting them, so I didn't bring a striker yet. Instead, I tried to shut off the pilot valves with the tiny screwdriver I brought. If only I had brought some pliers, because the valves were frozen. I looked for a valve to shut off the gas to the stove, and that was frozen, too. Now I knew the place had gas escaping into it, there was nothing to do but get out and call a gas emergency and then call management and give them the short version of what had happened.  I set my card table up outside in the gangway, out in the heat, but it was very shady, if laden with mosquitoes. I sat on the stool I brought and it was that way that I met my neighbors.

The gas man came and I told him what happened with the pilot lights and he then he looks at the stove and tells me the pilot lights were out. I began to think he hadn't had a lot of sleep the night before, or something. Then he discovered that the line going to the stove was brass and not up to spec. He checked the furnace, detecting a gas leak there and also detected another one in the basement.  By then, the maintenance man arrived. Apparently, it's up to maintenance now to track down the exact location of the leak and replace the line running to the stove. Meanwhile, I can't use the stove.

However, this management company wasn't only sending prospective tenants into a life-threatening situation, but it was endangering the other four people living in the building, including an infant. The apartment manager is there on Tuesday or maybe Monday, I'm going to talk to her. Meanwhile, I'm going to do some research on tenants rights and other legal issues that could be involved.

Of course, I'm not naming this company here. Anything I do depends on what they do next.