Publicly thanking our guardian angel

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Several months ago we had a new water heater installed. Last night I noticed we had no hot water. Upon inspection, I found our water heater covered in soot. Today I called and found out that a natural gas water heater was hooked up to our propane line. Yikes!! There was a definite sense of urgency as I was instructed to turn off the gas to the unit. I don't know what *might* have happened, but I am here to express my relief that nothing did happen. Everyone is safe, and I have some blessings to count.

Oh, and if you can, please take a moment to send a little prayer to the man who is supposed to come and install the new one. He was out sick today and we will only get the new one tomorrow if he goes to work, otherwise we have to wait until Saturday. So I'd love if you can send him some ~~healthy vibes~~~.

By Ginny~moderator on Thursday, February 19, 2004 - 08:43 pm:

I hope very much you raise all kinds of dust with the people who installed the original heater. They should be paying the costs of the corrective installation, or at least part of them. That is a really stupid mistake to make and it is only because of your guardian angel you and your family were not harmed.

By Ginny~moderator on Thursday, February 19, 2004 - 08:45 pm:

Oh, and healthy vibes and hopes for a new hot water heater tomorrow.

By Melanie on Thursday, February 19, 2004 - 09:12 pm:

It was Sears who we bought it through and they installed it. The guy who did the installation does not work there any more. Everyone I talked to was shocked that such a mistake was made. They are installing the new one at no cost to us. They know who made the mistake and what could have happened. The manager was very sympathetic and helpful and I have a feeling he will make sure this will never happen again. Fortunately, all I had to do was tell them what happened and they did not hesitate in taking responsibility for the mistake, complete with apologies. It was definitely a stupid mistake.

Thanks for the healthy vibes. Fortunately we have a dear friend who has offered to let us take showers at her house. But it will be nice if we don't have to be inconvenienced for long.

By Ginny~moderator on Thursday, February 19, 2004 - 09:20 pm:

Glad Sears is taking care of it properly.

By Melanie on Friday, February 20, 2004 - 09:51 am:

Hooray!! I just talked to the installers and although the guy is out sick again today, they juggled the schedule to fit us in at 9:00 this morning. I am so happy!

By Dawnk777 on Saturday, February 21, 2004 - 09:53 am:

Hope the new installation is working much better now!

By Melanie on Saturday, February 21, 2004 - 11:28 am:

Thanks Dawn! Yes, the new water heater is working just fine. This was a good opportunity for us to talk to the kids again about fire safety. We practiced hanging the ladder out their window and talked about our meeting spot. If the water heater had started a fire it would have separated us from the kids and it would have been very difficult for us to get to them. Thankfully rather than a tragedy, we had a good learning opportunity.

By Dawnk777 on Saturday, February 21, 2004 - 04:21 pm:

That's good. When we had our flood in 1998, it was a few days before the gas company could come out and check our water heater. So, I took a cold shower once and showered at a friend's house once.

The kids also were filthy, but since they could get by with a bath (9 and 6 at that time), I heated water on the stove and poured it in the bathtub. While it didn't get WARM, it was at least less cold, more like swimming pool water. They easily both took a bath in it. I told them they were taking a pioneer bath! They both knew how Laura Ingalls Wilder had to take a bath when she was a little girl. They thought it was fun.

So, after the thermocouple was replaced and the water warmed up again, I never appreciated a hot shower as much as that first one I took after the flood!

By Melanie on Saturday, February 21, 2004 - 05:08 pm:

Wow Dawn, that sounds like it was quite the adventure! Dh grew up in the Ozarks without heat or running water so he braved the cold shower the one morning. Yikes! He's a braver soul than I. I waited for the fix-it man. LOL. I sure am glad we didn't have to get as creative as you!

By Dawnk777 on Saturday, February 21, 2004 - 05:18 pm:

Heating water on the stove was a pain and I made sure the kids were in a bedroom with the door shut when I carried that boiling water to the bathroom. I was terrified I would spill it on someone. I said, "Coming through!" and they high-tailed it to hide until I dumped it in the tub.

By Kym on Sunday, February 22, 2004 - 10:34 am:

Okay, first I am glad it all worked out well for you! and second, I would have had a heart attack, I am usually not a "ninny" about things but I have a huge fear of gas. I have to leave my house when the propane man comes. And I only fill my car when I'm alone, no kids in the car. My family thinks I'm hysterical, but I think your incident would have sent me over the edgelol