I fought long and hard with myself this morning over whether or not I should get out of bed and get my oil changed, and get the 15,000 mile service required to keep my warranty happy. At the last minute I decided it was either now, or I'd have to wait several weeks because of my work schedule. Grudgingly I got up, ate, showered, all that fun stuff, and then drove off.

The service itself was uneventful. It was finished, I gave them a million dollars, and then drove back towards work.

Getting nearer to the parking lot, I couldn't help but notice the police cars and fire engines ahead.. mostly because they were blocking the entire road off and would have been impossible to not notice. I parked my car, wondering how long it would be before I heard an explanation (one that I was sure would be ridiculous) as to what was going on.

I didn't need to wait. Before I even got out of my car I was overwhelmed by the smell of natural gas.

Thinking I should move my car – you know, to prevent it from exploding or something – I decided against turning the key and causing that initial ignition spark. So I got out and hoped for the best. Walking a bit, I saw a drilling machine with a drill bit maybe 10-16" in diameter next to a hole of equal size. The hole.. was SPEWING natural gas. I mean, it looked like steam shooting out of the ground, hissing the entire time.

This email was sent to everyone just after I got to work:

A crew working on Main Street caused a gas leak. The leak is located at the corner of Main and Whiton streets. There is do danger to campus and no need to evacuate any building. The odor is simply from the gas leak.

And this email showed up after I started writing this post:

Police services is asking that people avoid Lot 1 near the Center for the Arts. Police are keeping people from cars parked in Lot 1 at this time.
Also, the air conditioning and air exchange units in the CA are being shut down to limit the spread of the odor.

I think it's important to note that my car is in Lot 1.

Once again, thank you for being a fine example of competence Whitewater. (Wow, that much sarcasm actually hurt.)