The Last Gas(p)

A mountain of details seem to be escaping my notice lately. Escaping might be an exaggeration since I wasn't really aware of many of these details in the first place. For example, do we leave the gas and electricity turned on in a house we will be tearing down? (Answer: yes to the electricity, no to the gas.) Who could know that the gas company would insist on sending a serviceman to turn on the service before they would agree to cut if off?