Oh, Internet! How could your denizens ever fail to disappoint? Yes, there's already serious (for a given value of "serious") rumor that the exploding houses on the south side of Indianapolis (killing a well-liked grade school teacher and her husband) were actually the result of a drone strike. Or a drone strike gone wrong, intended to take out the big building (on the northeast side of the county, easily 25 miles away) where Uncle Sam processes payroll for this country's armed forces.
And why, you might ask? Why, because we're in the middle of a coup attempt! (Nothing gets the troops on your side like fouling up their pay? What?)
Hmpf. And I didn't even bake a cake.
...Meanwhile, plenty of real people have suffered real harm; homes within a two-block radius are still off-limits until they can be assessed for safety. Private charity has stepped right up, to the point that they're turning away additional food, clothing and other material items, as they have nearly filled up a church basement -- still accepting cash; they're going to be needing it.
Hmmm...here in Minnesnowta when a house blows up unexpectedly, it's almost always the result of people having broken in and stolen all of the steel piping, water fixtures and copper piping out of the house. The last things they take are the central A/C condenser (copper tubes and aluminum fins) and then the copper natural gas piping.
ReplyDeleteSometimes they crimp the cut ends off...sometimes they don't. When they don't, the gas fills the house "looking" for an ignition source. When it finds one, there's usually a deflagration (rather than an actual detonation), but the end result is about the same. (1) blown-apart-at-the-seams house, and a whole bunch of others that have been knocked off their foundations or had other damage (windows, garage doors blown in). The thieves are hoping that the resulting fire(s) will cover their traces.
But sometimes, very rarely, it's just the result of an old hot-water-heater, furnace or boiler failing to correctly light. I guess I'd make one of those assumptions rather than a drone strike, but my tinfoil hat is probably slipping off.
Yeah, mine too.
ReplyDeleteThough the gas pipes really shouldn't be all that attractive for premature salvage. By local Code, "natural" gas piping has to be stainless or black iron, due (I am told) to the use of "town gas." With the old coal-gasification plant long out of service, this may have changed. (Nor do I get why -- different composition leading to embrittlement of the copper?)
As I posted on my own blog, I think there are three possibilities: A) Gas leak, B) meth lab accident, C) Idiot domestic terrorist building bomb in garage.
ReplyDeleteIf it isn't one of those three, I'll be surprised.
No change in gas piping codes, Bobbi. It's still black iron or stainless, and nobody is going to use stainless outside of industrial processes. Although for the "last three feet" from black pipe to appliance, they do allow those flexible connectors that seem to be stainless-armored; I don't know what's inside that actually keeps the gas in the pipe, though. Hopefully not copper.
Has anyone checked William of Ockham's grave lately? I suspect if we hooked a turbine up to him we could generate some electricity....
ReplyDeleteWhy does everyone have to ruin a perfectly good conspiracy theory with your "facts" and "rational thinking" and "logic"?
ReplyDeleteNext thing you'll be telling me helicopters aren't black at all.
OK, they've ruled out a meth lab and a bomb, so I guess we're left with a gas leak, even though nobody reported the scent of gas before the explosion.
ReplyDeleteAnd that site you linked...oh my goodness. 8-/ There are certainly some certifiable ones out there, aren't there?
Yeah... cutting off the pay...
ReplyDeleteAre these people the sole survivors of Carthage? They thought it was a good idea to stop payment of their troops, too.
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ReplyDeleteSorry - very tired and too many typos in the last couple of post comments.
ReplyDeleteThe damage was incredible and although part of me considered quipping about FEMA concentration camp drones, it was no laughing matter.
I simply came home, sat with a shot of Bowmore Scotch which EJ brought back from his trip to the UK, and we saluted the survivors.
Roberta, thank you for caring.
I'm intrigued by the thought of a coup attempt...
ReplyDeleteBowmore? Hey B, your in good company, and EJ knows his stuff, bringing that bottle home. What age? Our local scotch club meets monthly, my contribution on Monday was 16yr Tomintoul. Great stuff.
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