A Voice in the Night

Make that an ominous voice in the night. A couple of hours after I did some stir-frying on the stove for the first time last night there was a voice from overhead saying “Warning…carbon monoxide, Warning…carbon monoxide”. Whoa! It was coming from the ceiling detector.

Earlier I had noticed a slight smell coming from the stove but passed it off as an odor caused by using it for the first time. Wrong! It had a gas leak.

On to the web I went and found an emergency number for Keyspan (the gas company). I have a portable fan, moved it into the kitchen, and opened all the windows. In the frantic rush to set the fan up in the kitchen, I stood up and banged my head on a cupboard corner (an awkward design btw) and split my scalp open. So, there I am holding a paper towel over the wound while adjusting the fan, which is sliding around due to vibration. What fun!

Within a half hour, the tech from Keyspan was here (about 11 pm) with his detection meter. Yup, the stove was leaking gas. I’m still confused about the leak, since carbon monoxide is odorless. The gas guy gave me somewhat of a hard time about what I had reported on the phone (re: carbon monoxide vs gas). He definitely had an attitude…which I just ignored.

This morning I called Ann the apartment building manager who leased me the apartment. Within an hour, there was a hubbub of activity in my kitchen, Ann, Elvis (the super) and the stove maestro. The stove and I got a lot of TLC. Just another day in the big city.