Re: [FWDLK] Last gas(p) LONG AND OFF-TOPIC
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Re: [FWDLK] Last gas(p) LONG AND OFF-TOPIC



What a LOVELY Sunday morning!
 
The sun is shining here North of Detroit, and it is a balmy 36 degrees outside.  The coffee tastes wonderful, and the subject du jour seems to be EXPLOSIONS, a subject near and dear to the heart of every growing boy.  As a veteran of 10 years experience as a DOD inspector in an explosives factory, I couldn't be happier!
 
Therefore, I'm going to tell you all my story of natural gas explosions here in the hub of the universe, Lake Orion, Michigan.
 
The Village of Lake Orion is a small community 35 miles North of Detroit.  It grew from a small summer vacation community into its current yuppie status.  For 10 years (A different decade of my life), I owned a hardware store in town and was a volunteer firefighter.  All of the village was fitted with septic tanks which drained their effluent into Paint Creek, the overflow from Lake Orion.
 
This worked fine as long as the population was relatively small, and septic systems were pumped regularly.  Of course, as  time went by and the population enlarged, the inevitable happened.  To put it bluntly, Paint Creek became Shit Creek.  Since everyone on the lake was using outboard motors, and we had no paddles, another solution was proposed.  SANITARY SEWERS!
 
After much soul and pocketbook searching, sewers were placed and every house in the village was connected to the sewer system.  Every street in this one-mile-square community was dug up, and a trench was dug to each home.  Sewers were installed and the whole mess was refilled.  Earth through the entire community was disturbed and shaken, including all the water and gas lines that had been there for years.
 
Pipes developed leaks, including natural gas lines.  Water leaks made a mess, but were obvious, and could be fixed.  Gas lines leaked, but for the most part the gas seeped up through the loose soil and dissipated without any fuss.  So, we went through the golden days of autumn, reveling in our newly refurbished flush toilets, enjoying the prospect of no clogged septic tanks.
 
Then, the ground froze.  Those little gas leaks that had formerly exited through the loose soil had nowhere to go and followed the gas lines into the basements of nearby homes.  In the basements, the gas filled the homes from the top down, until the furnace thermostat turned the pilot lights on.  BOOM!
 
We lost four homes in that winter.  I got to go to all four, in my shiny red truck with all the twinkly lights on it.  Amazingly, no one was hurt, including one family that was sitting around the dining room table when the walls blew out from around them.  They jumped overboard before the roof fell in!
 
It all made for a memorable year!
 
I'm sorry, and I will possibly get some sour grapes for being long and off- topic, but I just had to share, and after all, it is a lazy Sunday...
 
Joe Savard
Lake Orion, Michigan




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