Crazy Day!

I got to work at 7:30am this morning, walked into the kitchen and smelled gas! The preschool I work at is in a church with an ancient gas stove. Ugh! I spent ten minutes debating if it was more gas than usual, opened some doors to air it all out, and finally called PG&E. After fifteen minutes on hold and three children's arrivals, I was finally able to talk to someone about my dilemna...my concern being, of course, more for the children's health and safety. After taking the information, the person I was talking to said we would be the highest priority for someone to come out (after someone's house going up in flames). Sweet!

After I got off the phone, I realized that one of the bathroom doors was only attached to the door jam by the bottom hinge and was leaning precariously toward the sink where the kids wash their hands. Crap! I couldn't figure out what had happened to the three screws that were holding the top hinge on Friday. I searched around until I found a screwdriver and decided to see if I could undo the two screws holding the bottom hinge, so that I could just take the door down and remove it from the area, so the kids didn't get squashed by it. The door was hanging down and slightly to one side, putting pressure on the bottom hinge and the screws.

So there I was at 8:10am, by myself (except for the three kids), two doors open to air out the gas, with chairs in front of them to keep the kids from running out in the pouring down rain, propping my body up against a door to keep it from falling, while trying to lift it by the door knob with my right hand, and loosen the screws with my left hand. It was ridiculous!

I finally got the screws out, the door moved into the kitchen and the kitchen door closed to keep the gas from coming into the rest of the school. Ten minutes later my co-teacher showed up. Forty-five minutes later, PG&E showed up. Sweet! Everything checked out. It turned out one of the pilots on the stove top went out and that was where all the gas was coming from. Of course it would be something simple! But better safe than sorry. So the guy showed me what to do if it happens in the future and then left.

Crisis averted!