"Um, I think we

"Um, I think we have a gas leak," Tod called from the bedroom.

Sure enough, the room was filled with the odor of natural gas. (Do you know that that stinky scent is added to the gas to make sure that when there is a problem, you can smell it?) Time to call the gas company.

An hour later, two gas men armed with tools and a huge flashlight arrived and got to work. To check for a leak in the line, they pumped air into the pipe with the gas company's version of a sphygmomenometer. The dial didn't drop once the air was in so there was no leak in the line.

They took apart and greased up the valve. A lack of grease was the culprit. Finished.

Earlier in the day we had discovered an outlet that didn't work. Tod asked them if they could take a look at it before they left.

We all sat around the gas outlet in the living room peering in at it. They took it apart and found a cracked knob. They patched up the knob, put a dab of silicon compound on the valve and now we can heat the living room.

Tod & I watched as they worked and they talked to us, warming up to our slow Japanese, but happy to tell us some safety things and to talk about their tools. By the end of their visit, they had offered to look for a new knob to replace the one that was cracked and broken. Kameoka-san will call next week to let us know. "Service," he said.

He wasn't kidding. Great service from Tokyo Gas.