1/17    I noticed some gas smell the other day on the side of my house
        where the gas meter is, when the gas heater was running inside.
        Is that normal or should I call PG&E or something?
        \_ it's not normal. you have a gas leak. call 'em ASAP.
           \_ Agreed.  Bad time to stop for a quick fag.
           \_ And turn off the gas heater NOW!  And don't turn on or off any
              electric switches near the gas smell, including phones.
        \_ call the 24 hour emergency line and they'll come out asap.
        \_ dang, thanks guys... this was outside the house btw
           \_ If you're smelling gas outside the house, odds are the leak is
              really bad.
              \_ by now it is either fixed or we should plan a funeral.
                 \_ Don't worry.  It only takes an Ionic Breeze 30 minutes to
                    clear up an outdoor gas leak. :-)
                    \_ Is the IB gas powered?  That would be very economical
                       in this situation. :-)
        \_ So, to update all my worried anonymous friends: I called PG&E and
           the nice man came and sprayed soap solution on all the pipes to look
           for bubbles from gas. It was raining by then and dark. He couldn't
           seem to find anything. I couldn't smell it either for a while but
           then I could again. At some point he claimed to find a tiny leak
           but then we were talking and eventually he just left saying call
           them back some other time when it's not raining if I still have a
           problem. The meters didn't seem to move while we were there. But
           I noticed the smell more when the furnace was running anyway.
           Maybe they like that I'm wasting more expensive gas. The End.
            \_ Where do you live samli? If you live in certain places like
               Foster City, Hayward, or elsewhere that used to be a landfill
               (they used to be literally a dump) then methane gas released
               from underground is not unusual.
               \_ Well samli, that could be. There is also a little sewer
                  access hole thingie near there that could cause it. I
                  hope so. It didn't seem like it though and natural gas
                  has a pretty specific odor.
           \_ Not quite the end.  It sounds like you're still at serious risk
              of blowing up.
              \_ Yeah, well it's the end of this episode. I also posted about
                 the bomb-threat at my building. My odds of getting blown up
                 are steadily increasing. It must be a conspiracy.