How do you feel today? v. 3.0

[Sorus]

Sorry, Peter. Nightmares are no fun.

Sorry, no. It's a package deal.

Darnit. Are you sure you don't want to just give up the rain? We'll take it all, no questions asked.

I tell you what: I'll send you the humidity. All the sweat will fix that drought in no time.

Ewwww. We're not that desperate. Yet.

[Avatar]

Like shit. I've had 24 hours of nightmare stuff with the threat of my house being blown to blazes as a result of a gas leak, and the potential of a massive bill in lieu of repair costs. I've not got the energy left to give details but trust me, it's nearly killed me!

I've never trusted gas. You Brits always seem so nonchalant about it. Give me the electric any day.

--A

[aliantha]

Cooking on electric sucks. Gas is much easier to control. (Said ali, who cooks almost everything in the microwave these days anyway... )

I'm hopeful your dream won't turn out to be prophetic, peter.

[Sorus]

No love for induction? That's what I've been using for the past 5 years - no choice where I live, but I don't think I'd want to go back to gas. The stove at my last place was.... explode-y, and my landlord tended to go for cheap and unqualified (and unlicensed!) whenever something needed fixing. Not a good combination.

I've been having nightmares about my ceiling falling in - which, for once, has less to do with claustrophobia and more to do with feeling insecure in life in general. Nightmares don't always take a direct path.

[Avatar]

Cooking on electric sucks. Gas is much easier to control. (Said ali, who cooks almost everything in the microwave these days anyway... )

I like cooking on a gas range, but electric is better for baking. The microwave exists solely to warm up tea, bake potatoes, and cook anything that needs boiling.

--A

[aliantha]

I've never had an induction range/oven/whatever. I grew up with a gas stove and I've never been nervous about using one (though I know some folks are).

I like cooking on a gas range, but electric is better for baking. The microwave exists solely to warm up tea, bake potatoes, and cook anything that needs boiling.

I'd dump out tea or coffee before I'd reheat it in the microwave. I use the stove for pasta and eggs (microwaved scrambled eggs seem suspiciously puffy to me ). And cookies, and anything that requires a crisp crust (bread, turkeys, etc.), go in the oven. But I cook pretty much everything else in the microwave.

[Sorus]

I grew up with electric and didn't have a gas range until I was an adult, and the concept of 'turn a knob and fire comes out' did cause a bit of trepidation, especially since the stove was ancient and poorly-maintained. The lower settings didn't work well - it was nearly impossible to make rice, for example, because the flame would go out on any setting that wouldn't burn it, but the gas flow stayed on, and yeah, not a fan of gas. Induction is nice because it's basically digital - you can choose the exact temperature/wattage you want. Knowing that 1100 watts is good for boiling water is better than hoping for the best with the Knob of Fiery Doom.

[Avatar]

Yeah, it's that connection to the whole gas system that bothers me. When I was living in London, a block of flats in...Blackheath I think it was, just blew up.

When I was cooking on gas at my uncle's place, it wasn't so bad, because you're just connected to a big gas cylinder. We don't have much gas infrastructure here...very very few places actually connected to a gas line.

--A

[Menolly]

I like cooking on a gas range, but electric is better for baking. The microwave exists solely to warm up tea, bake potatoes, and cook anything that needs boiling.

^this^

[Sorus]

Yeah, it's that connection to the whole gas system that bothers me. When I was living in London, a block of flats in...Blackheath I think it was, just blew up.

That has happened here too. And I'm the sort of person who likes to know how things work. I think we're going to be in big trouble infrastructure-wise, and in the near future.

[Savor Dam]

Sorus, you are entirely right, especially for your location. Y'all have seen elevated double-deck freeways pancake, sections of bridges fall into the Bay, and broken gas lines contribute hugely to post-temblor fires.

Fix the infrastructure, already...and recognize what it takes to handle what Earth may pitch at you. Maybe not just doubling down on stronger roads and thicker pipes? Do things differently?

[Linna Heartbooger]

I'm hopeful your dream won't turn out to be prophetic, peter.

btw, I read peter's post as him saying, "We had an actual gas leak in our home, and I had reason to believe that everything might blow up."
Which would be exhausting.

also, thanks for the encouragement, Av and ali. (with regards to me thinking about how humans give me much to mistrust in them.) Yes, there is much good, and I surely do go looking for the good.

I haven't been around here, though, because... so. much. to. do. I'm kinda worn-out. It's getting to me.

otoh, there are worse challenges.
With that in mind - Sorus, good luck fixing your city's infrastructure single-handedly.
That sounds really super-difficult!!

[Avatar]

It's all a matter of prioritising. Watch first. Then everything else.

--A

[peter]

No - it was a for real gas leak. A guy doing some work (re-hanging, or in fact failing to re-hang a door that the carpet fitters had taken off and abandoned) drove a nail into a gas pipe without realising it. My wife smelled gas later in the day, called in the gas emergency services who cut off our supply ( so no heat, water or cooking) and said the joists would have to be replaced in order to fix it (mega-money).

[Damelon]

I've never had an induction range/oven/whatever. I grew up with a gas stove and I've never been nervous about using one (though I know some folks are).

I like cooking on a gas range, but electric is better for baking. The microwave exists solely to warm up tea, bake potatoes, and cook anything that needs boiling.

I'd dump out tea or coffee before I'd reheat it in the microwave. I use the stove for pasta and eggs (microwaved scrambled eggs seem suspiciously puffy to me ). And cookies, and anything that requires a crisp crust (bread, turkeys, etc.), go in the oven. But I cook pretty much everything else in the microwave.

I have no problem reheating coffee in the microwave. The microwave is great at cooking rice and hot dogs. Other than that I only really use it for reheating leftovers.

Single servings that need to be crisped I cook in the toaster oven. The big stove is gas. I don't like electric.

[Sorus]

No - it was a for real gas leak. A guy doing some work (re-hanging, or in fact failing to re-hang a door that the carpet fitters had taken off and abandoned) drove a nail into a gas pipe without realising it. My wife smelled gas later in the day, called in the gas emergency services who cut off our supply ( so no heat, water or cooking) and said the joists would have to be replaced in order to fix it (mega-money).

Well, that sucks. Was the nail-driver's company licensed/insured? If they caused the problem, they should be liable for fixing it.

Fix the infrastructure, already...and recognize what it takes to handle what Earth may pitch at you. Maybe not just doubling down on stronger roads and thicker pipes? Do things differently?

I'm not sure what other options exist, but I will be giving it thought. I'd actually be really good at that sort of thing if I had a little power and a lot of money. And there's the problem. Doing things right the first time will always cost less in the long run, but it's so much easier to cut corners now. San Andreas is a matter of when, not if, and as I've said before, there are adults who have grown up in this city who have never been in a serious earthquake. You get people who are shocked when a 12-foot-by-5-foot sinkhole randomly opens in the middle of a very busy street, but how many of them realize that whole part of the city is built on landfill? (Granted, that may not have been a factor where the sinkhole was concerned, but it is potentially a huge problem in an earthquake.) How many people in this city have enough emergency supplies to last for 3 days, as is recommended? How many people are trained in basic first aid, let alone search and rescue? (That reminds me that my CPR certification is expired. I should take care of that one of these days.)

[aliantha]

Yes, get to it, Sorus. The CPR renewal, the infrastructure fixes -- all of it.

peter -- Now I'm freaking out. Yes, follow up with the contractor. Sounds like the cost of those repairs ought to come out of his pocket.

Single servings that need to be crisped I cook in the toaster oven.

I've never had a toaster oven...

Linna -- Busy is good, or so I'm told.

Tonight is our annual Decennial Dinner, for employees who've been with the firm for ten years or more. This year we're going to a new, chi-chi steakhouse. I'm glad the other attendees are going to be people I work with every day, as I managed to dribble burrito sauce on my shirt at lunch.

[Avatar]

Well, at least it's Friday. Another week gone by. *sigh*

--A

[peter]

Thank the stars it turned out OK Ali and Sorus. The guy who nailed the pipe was the husband of a workmate, and totally uninsured, so when the emergency guy who came out to cut the gas supply told me that I'd got a serious job on to repair the damage I was having kittens in my head about the cost was facing. To make things worse he said that because the house was old the pipework would no longer satisfy building regs and would probably have to be replaced in total just to get the repair fixed (on top of the building work removing and replacing joists).

Maybe he was pissed at being called out after tea-time, coz it all turned out to be crap. A gas fitter I know through the shop came out the following day and fixed the pipe in an hour, so I spent a night of horror imagining the worst for nothing! I lost 50 pounds on the job, but the results could have been so, so much worse. I could have lost my house had the gas blown and my insurance would have been null and void because I used an unlicensed tradesman. I'll never make that mistake again I promise.

[aliantha]

Thank goodness it all turned out okay.

And yes -- it's Friday. I need to rent a truck today so we can spend tomorrow getting rid of the furniture that doesn't fit in our new apartment. It's all little stuff except for an antique dining room table that the girls' stepmother bought from a neighbor and *insisted* that MagickMaker take -- even though MagickMaker didn't want it. Right now it's sitting in a storage unit that's costing me $168/month. It's pretty, but it's heavy and it needs refinishing -- and I already have a dining room table. And my kid has made zero moves to dispose of it herself. So it'll cost me $20 plus mileage to solve the problem for her.

Of course, it's supposed to rain tomorrow, too.