What a day...

So my former college suitemate comes up to visit me for the weekend. We're veggin' out watching movies. We're in the middle of a horrible movie (I'm too ashamed to state which) and we hear someone banging on the door. I hestitantly open the door because I'm still in my pjs, not quite decent for public viewing, and there are 3 fire engines, 2 ambulances, half a dozen police cars, and they're all going up and down the stairs to the apartment above mine. I grab my coat and walk out with my neighbor, who was the person banging on the door, in the cold to find out what's going on.

I hear talk of carbon monoxide and I see girls crying. I notice some residents gathering and get the quick version. Some one tells us they're evacuating the building so I run in to put on some clothes and get my dog. During the 5 seconds I'm inside someone else comes banging on the door saying everyone must vacate the premises immediately. At least I had time to put on some clothes and grab some socks.

So we're standing outside for a couple hours, begging for information from anyone official-looking as they walk by. My dog gets a lot of attention from the cute firefighters and cops....hehe... ;). Here's what I got, though it seems incomplete still:

The two new girls that moved in above me last weekend have been vomiting and have had headaches all week. That morning both had passed out/fainted. One even hit her head when she collapsed in the kitchen. (I had slept in, so I didn't hear the loud thump.) They reported it and called 911. Upon inspection, it turned out to be a bigger deal than just their apartment. It was ALL the apartments in my building, 20 units, had a gas leak. Well, one apartment didn't have a leak, but it was the only vacant apartment! Go figure. They said that my apartment was actually worse than the one above me where the girls passed out. And when I heard that, I immediately started feeling nauseated and got a headache!! Amazing what our minds can do to us.

So we hung out a bit longer with the cute firefighters so we could flirt anytime they came by to pet my dog. We hear they're not going to let us in for at least one day, maybe two. They start escorting us in one by one with a firefighter carrying a meter to quickly gather some clothes and necessities for a hotel.

Then we go to the apartment's clubhouse where we all wait for word on which hotel they're sending us to. The apartment manager arrives to approve the hotel and get a handle on what's going on and talk with us all. She's a dog lover, so she makes certain to find a pet-friendly hotel.

By the time we get to the hotel and check in, it's been about 4 hours. I immediately go to Target to buy a carbon monoxide/gas detector. And now I'm chillin' in the hotel. They now let us in to our apartments, but we cannot stay there more than a few minutes.