Gassy Rant

November 15, 2014 by JoAnna 6 Comments

The Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt was elements: air/earth/fire/water. Earth and Water are my favorite elements, but I picked air to write about here.

The air is getting colder, both outside and inside my house, even though I have a couple of electric space heaters going. They should be here within thirty minutes to replace the natural gas line running along side my house that connects to the primary heater and the stove. The forecast is for a  low 31 degrees F  for tonight.

It’s been  a bit of an ordeal today, which is Friday, because that’s when I write my SoCS post for Saturday.

For a couple weeks, I’ve smelled gas in front of my house and sometimes inside. Not all the time, but a few days a week. I called the natural gas company and the guy said I had to call back when I smelled it. So, I called last night and the guy came out and used his magic wand gas detector that beeped around the gas meter and the line next to the house. He cut off the gas and said we could call a plumber or heating and air person to replace line.

Our regular plumber said he didn’t do gas, but referred us to another plumber who I called this morning and that company doesn’t do gas either. They suggested I call the gas company again.

The gas company gatekeeper transferred me to home service who transferred me to sales who transferred me to another service who said I had a warranty and it should be covered.  I didn’t even think about a warranty, but apparently that makes a difference. That person gave me a number to called which ended up being the inspector who’d come out the night before who told us to call a plumber or heating and air person. He said the warranty did not cover the repair because it was outside the house. I hadn’t thought much about the warranty. I was looking for a referral for  who could replace my gas line. I told him I felt I was getting run around in circles and he said, “No you’re not.” He said it with an air of authority, like he knew for sure he was right.

Then I tried to explain to him why I felt I was being run around in circles, having been referred back to him by the company, and he said, “No you’re not. It’s not our fault your gas line is broken.” Then he said something about all the other people who’s gas line’s they already had to fix.

I had not had my breakfast yet and having low blood sugar, I asked him for his name again and said thank you very much.  Then I went to have some microwave oatmeal.

Next, I worked on trying to get a hold of some kind of customer service supervisor. I got a nice lady from the home office and told her my story. She said she’s get back to me. A while later the local supervisor called me and I told him the story. He said he hadn’t known about what his employee had told me, but would talk to him because it wasn’t the employee’s call to decide about the warranty. I said I didn’t want to deal with that employee again, but was told he was the only one who could do the work. (Great!)

About 45 minutes later, the local supervisor called me back and said they’d be here this afternoon to fix the gas line. I said thank you.

Now, I don’t even want to talk to the guy who said, “No you’re not,” twice and blah blah blah. Unless he is going to apologize. Oh, did I mention I made several phone calls to find out who else can replace a gas line? Apparently these people are not easy to find. Maybe I should look into an electric stove. But I do like cooking with gas.

Now I’m starting to recognize this as one of those opportunities to practice compassion and forgiveness. Oh joy.

The guy is probably overworked and underpaid, though he is certainly in high demand, so why would he be underpaid? He needs help………. in area the customer service skills. And he didn’t seem to like dogs last night, but let’s not go there…..  What I meant to say, was he needs  some one to help him keep up with all this demand. I need help getting my gas line replaced. Maybe I need help being compassionate with this guy who I don’t want to talk to. I’ll let you know how it goes later in the comments section.

If you’d like to join in the Stream of Consciousness Saturday Prompt and Post, and see other responses, visit

http://lindaghill.com/2014/11/14/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-november-1514/

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” or “Begin with the word ‘The’.”

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments, for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. Have fun!