Scent Sense
My nose has driven family and friends crazy over the years. It’s a curse. I can smell a bear a half mile away, garlic on the breath of someone clear across the room, the clashing multiple perfume scents in a theatre. I’ve been known to wake John up in the middle of the night with “what’s that smell†simply because a cigarette smoker has walked on the sidewalk out front.  Never mind how I’ve been tortured by teens after skiing-hiking-baseball-soccer-snowboarding refusing to drive them anywhere until they showered…..
But yesterday my nose failed me. Happily curled up with a book, visiting with my parents, I wondered why I had such a headache? Mike and Di walk in and Mike immediately says “I smell gasâ€. “No way†I say, and ignore him.   Mike promptly went to the gas stove and turned it on.
The house did not explode. But indeed we had a leaky furnace. Now we owe him our lives.
BirdBrain
That’s terrifying. I don’t understand what was leaking. And how DID you find out, since the house didn’t explode when Mike turned on the gas?
Comment by jennifer — April 28, 2008 @ 7:58 pm
In my defense, I think I flipped on the gas after Karen had thrown open the windows. Really, though, the smell couldn’t have been stronger had I stuck my head inside the furnace, which is where the summoned gas company technician said the leak originated.
Comment by michael — April 28, 2008 @ 8:09 pm
Oh crap. So sorry Birdbrain. I know what it’s like to owe someone your life. There’s the constant requests and then the guiltly statements, “Oh, no. It’s OK. You don’t have to lend me your car. It’s not like I saved your life or anything…”
Comment by Jen — May 1, 2008 @ 2:58 pm
I learned by reading Barbara Kingsolver that several groups (some Asians and some Native Americans?) believe that if you save someone’s life, you become RESPONSIBLE FOR THE REST OF IT. Backwards to “our” way of thinking — but perhaps helpful to those who don’t like to loan their cars.
Comment by Peggy — May 1, 2008 @ 9:26 pm
So maybe Mike has to lend his car to BirdBrain?
Comment by rakkity — May 2, 2008 @ 12:50 am