Yeah, I did forget a couple things. We could only get the dogs out
when we were first evacuated. The cats were scared and hiding under a
bed, and we had nowhere to take the birds. The beautiful 18 year old
girl who recently moved in with us, and whose laptop I'm now using,
ran into the house against firefighter's orders to rescue the cats. A
fireman found her lying on the bedroom floor, trying to get the cats
to come out. He was wearing breathing apparatus and gave her a mask
to breathe through. He told her she'd have to go to the hospital.
She said no way, and kept going until she got one cat boxed up. Then
she started going down to the main floor and fell almost the whole
flight of stairs. Still wouldn't accept medical treatment, but has
one whammy of a headache now.

Oh, the gas company guy and the firefighters said it was carbon
dioxide. The furnace guy said it was carbon monoxide. I don't know,
but I'm glad I smelled that odorless gas. I don't think it was the
dead cat.

I can't really decide whether to laugh or cry. I'm not sure that I'm
capable of either right now. I think I'm just gonna be in pure
survival mode for awhile.

Carol, whose toes are getting really cold