Natural Gas Poisoning

By now you all have been reading about my hot water heater problems... but did you have any idea how serious it was? I didn't.

I had been 'sick' for about a week. So many different symptoms made it hard to diagnose... besides, I was too sick to care. I just curled up in bed and hoped the world would pass me by. A few major "events" were happening in my day to day life, so I chalked up the queasy stomach, intestinal flare ups, migraine, head cold, sneezing, and over all 'I don't give a shit' attitude to depression. Little did I know the gas leak from the hot water heater was poisoning me.

My daughter suffered some of the same symptoms... and the dogs weren't behaving right either... but I was too sick to notice or care.

As a general rule I like to keep the windows in my house open. I can't live with out fresh air blowing in my face, especially around my nose. That's the only thing that saved me from a more serious fate.

Last week a neighbor called the fire department because they smelled gas. The firemen turned the gas to the hot water heater off... and with in 6 hours or so I started to feel better.

So... beware of the silent killer!!! You can't see it, hear it, or even smell it in some cases. Read the symptoms below and commit them to memory. I didn't suffer from all of them... but quite a few to see the pattern.

Symptoms of Natural Gas Poisoning

There are a wide variety of symptoms that may occur from natural gas poisoning. The most noticeable are:

• Increased allergies
• Gastrointestinal Problems
• Fatigue
• Forgetfulness
• Mental Fogginess
• Asthma
• Depression
• Pain and Discomfort
• High Red Blood Cell Count
• High White Blood Cell Count
• Eczema
• High Cholesterol levels
• Pets are unexplainably ill
• Migraines

Keep it safe!

The HELP!

The week is only 2 days long and already it has been filled with excitement.

The saga of the hot water heater continues. The pilot light won't stay lit and the new thermal-coupler  doesn't seem to do it's job... which is turn the gas off if not being heated. So......
A friendly neighbor who was walking their dog smelled the gas spewing from my basement and called the local fire department. Here I was sitting innocently at home on the computer when 2 fire trucks, a police vehicle, a rescue vehicle, and assorted private trucks with flashing lights all come flying down my street... and screech to a halt... in front of MY house!!!

Suddenly my yard and basement were a flurry of firemen hunks checking out the situation. Sadly they were all too young for me... and my daughter (who is the PERFECT age) wasn't home to enjoy the view. Too bad. The older guys just stood around and talked for a while. Another call came in about a fire alarm tripping... and POOF... they were off and running to another call. It all happened in a span of about 20 minutes. They all came... then they all left.

In quilting news today... I spent a lot of my day learning about the Philadelphia Chapter of The Modern Quilt Guild. Their first meeting of the year is next week... which I will be attending.  Jan, the owner of Pennington Quilt Works in Pennington, NJ has offered to host a New Jersey Chapter at her store if I get it up and running. Well... you don't have to ask me twice to do something like that. In the past I have started a NJ Chapter of the Smocking Arts Guild of America (for hand smocking), The Raritan Valley Youth Chorale (a chorus designed specifically for the changing voices of adolescents. We actually sang in Carnegie Hall, NYC!), was President of Hillsborough Elementary Home & School Association, and so much more. Starting a NJ Chapter for quilters is a piece of cake! So exciting!!!

                                   I even had time to take my mom to the movies. We saw The Help.
I thought the book was FABULOUS... and the movie brought it all to life. If you get a chance to see the movie... GO!

Set in the 1960's in Mississippi... it's a story of a special bond between black maids and the families they work for... and how it all changes in the 60's. I couldn't control my laughter as Minnie arrived at Hilly's door with a special chocolate pie as a piece offering. You have to read the book, or see the movie to understand the joke behind this. Apparently there were not many of us in the audience that had read the book ahead of seeing the movie... only 4 of us knew what was going to happen.

"I is Kind." "I is Smart." "I is Important." A great lesson for us all.


Soundtrack is available on iTunes. Lead song "The Living Truth" was written and sung by Mary J. Blige.