This is not a Drill

Today I would like to share a story from Tuesday March 24th.

If you live here in SL,UT and were anywhere close to the tv on Tuesday afternoon you might have heard that there was a "monstrous" gas leak on the UofU campus the likes that we have never seen. *as a side note, can I just say that I hate local news. Why is everything so damn dramatic! calm down Nadine Wimmer.

Here is my side of the story:

Tuesday was a lovely day for me. It snowed. First problem. Second and more severe problem was that I was at home in bed with a nasty sore throat, aches, headache and a nasty head cold. This is unfortunate because not only did I have to teach the next day and was concerned about loosing my voice or dripping snot all over the podium, but my clogged head was also having a hard time preparing a comprehensive, intellectual lecture. Even more disturbing was that the next day, March 25th (yesterday) was also my birthday and who wants to be sick on their birthday? nobody.
Getting sick at this very opportune time was really a culmination of working with 100s of dirty snot nosed kids on Saturday at the museum and then getting cocky and bragging to my friend that I had not gotten sick once this year. This was my downfall, karma rears its head once again.

so what you might be asking does this have to do with the gas leak? Hold your horses, I am getting to it. After all, it is about the journey not the destination.

So back to Tuesday. I called in sick to work in the morning determined to get some rest and recuperation and to try to work on my lecture. Since Tuesday is my grad seminar day and it only is held once a week, I decided that I better try to venture out into the cold and snow and head up to campus for my three hour class later in the afternoon. Time came only too quickly. I bundled up, packed my day bag with cough drops, Tylenol, tissues and water and headed for campus.

The time is 1:45pm. Class starts at 2pm. Making good time and ahead of schedule for once instead of being behind, I get up on campus and as I am listening to Bob Marley's Could You Be Loved (that song always makes me feel better) I remember thinking to myself, "something kind of stinks. I smell a natural gas smell." The thought came and went as quickly and I continued to drive thinking that my mind must be playing tricks on me, I can barely breath as it is.

This is where all of the fun begins!

2pm: I park and walk to the art building, get to class right on time and walk into class. The room is pitch black and no one is in sight. I walk out of the room and on the door is posted:
"Due to a scheduling conflict, class will not start today until 3pm. -Lela"

I am dumbfounded. WTF! I dragged myself out of bed to come to class and wait for an hour. I could have stayed in bed another hour!

Trying not to be too upset (it's not good for your health I hear), I calmy call my friends, and fellow grads, Laura and Becka and ask where the hell they are and soon join them in our grad office on the 3rd floor of the Art Building.

2:30pm: After a short chat, Becka and I leave Laura to go and grab a drink. We walk to the museum and as we approach the big glass doors, one of the nice security guards rushes up to us and says "there is a gas leak and we are evacuating everybody."

I quote Becka, "so we can't buy a drink really quick?"
In the back of my head I think to myself, "maybe I really did smell something when I was driving."

After being denied access to the museum, we go to the business building and Becka successively purchases her drink and we begin to walk back to the art building. At this point, I really start to question my decision of 1. ever coming to campus in the first place. I am sick... I should have taken a full sick day. 2. going with Becka all over south campus to look for a drink. Again, I am sick. What was I thinking exerting myself.

We walk into the architecture building that is connected to the art building and run into a group of students that frantically tell us that everyone is being evacuated due to a gas leak and that we need to get out of the building ASAP.

So, dumb ass me realizes that I left all of my stuff (day bag, keys, phone and most importantly Kleenex) in our office on the third floor. I can't just turn around and run for my life from some impending explosion, I have to save my Blackberry. I tell Becka to leave me, not to risk her life, as I rush into the building against a whole load of traffic heading my way. I hear Becka say, "I am coming with you. I like adventure." (sorry but that made me laugh!) Although an explosion had not occurred, it felt like it had and as I ran into the building I couldn't help but feel like a firefighter running into a burning building to save a dog or a blackberry.

We see Laura in the main hall and I think "great! she left the office. I bet she grabbed my stuff."

She didn't. She was so concerned with her own creeping doom and demise that she grabbed her stuff, locked the door (from the gas???) and was headed out the building when we saw her.

Since my keys (car, house, office aka life line) were in my bag in the grad office, I had no way of getting into it. Laura, Becka and I then had to go and get the key from the lady at the office who was frantically closing up the office to leave. As she handed me the key, she gave us this concerned look like she might never see us again or that we were risking too much by going up into the belly of building when any minute disaster could unfold.

So of course in times of death and disaster you can never take the elevator only the stairs.. Sick lady (me) was going to have to climb those stairs.

The stair well was a giant flood of people going down the stairs while us three were pushing our way up. On of the teachers looked at us and said "you're going the wrong way!"
really? I thought up meant out?? who knew. sarcastic much!

Finally, in a giant crescendo of anticipation we get to the office, unlock the door, fling it open, run inside, grab my stuff and head with traffic back down the stairs to the office and finally out the building.

The three of us wish each other good luck on the rest of our journey and head for our cars.

3pm: After getting to my car and maneuvering myself through campus, through two accidents (from what I can presume were students hurrying and not paying attention in the quest to save their lives), past fire engines, cop cars and ambulances that buzz past me, I finally work my way off of campus onto Foothill and head back towards the cove.

As I head away from campus I anticipate at any moment the whole campus to explode into a giant mushroom cloud. I keep checking my rear view mirror, any minute, any minute now. It never happens.

I would be lying if I didn't say I wasn't just a bit disappointed that nothing happened. After all that? Really? There couldn't just be a little explosion and fire? I don't want anyone to get hurt but there couldn't be some sort of pyrotechnic show? Not impressed mother nature, not impressed.

As I am driving, I go over the last hour in my head, being sick, driving up to campus to go to a class that was moved back an hour and then cancelled due to a evacuation due to a gas leak. Then I had to climb stairs, fight for my life and save my possessions from certain doom, all for nothing. "I came all the way up here just to go through all of that and be evacuated and then no finale." Note to self: next time you take a sick day, stay home all day - no exceptions.

I them picked up my rescued blackberry, called my mom and said, "Momma, you will never guess what just happened."






and that is the story of the great UofU gas leak of '09 from my perspective.