I learned how to turn off the gas at the meter shortly after I bought my first house in California. It’s an earthquake safety thing. My husband already knew how to turn off the gas when I met him – a souvenir from a long ago remodelling project. So when we were told that our gas would have to be turned off while the house was tented for termites, it was no big deal. We would just turn it back on when we returned from vacation. We were wrong. So wrong.

PG&E didn’t just turn the gas off. They took the extra precaution of capping the pipe as well. Home on Sunday night from our weeklong vacation in Disney World, the discovery was a big “Ooops!” And PG&E couldn’t come out to turn the gas on until Wednesday. We laughed at our mistaken assumption that night, despite our dread of the next morning’s cold showers. But the laughter didn’t stop there.

Monday morning. Time for breakfast. Put a pot of water on to boil for grits. Oh. Right. Gas stove. Doh!

Monday afternoon. Time to do the post-vacation laundry. Sort. Load the washer. Transfer to dryer. Second load in the wash. Bing! Ah, the clothes in the dryer are done. Nope, not dry yet. Give ’em a little more time. Walk away……hmm. Those clothes weren’t very warm. I wonder if something’s wrong with the dryer? Walk back….oh. No hot air. Oh. Right. Gas dryer. Doh!

The gas is back on now. And I’m glad for that. I prefer hot showers, stovetop grits, and warm, fluffy laundry. But I have to admit, it was fun to laugh at ourselves and our assumptions.