Decades ago, I defended Robin's clients in a variety of personal injury and property damage lawsuits involving natural gas appliances. In my case - fortunately - no harm, no foul. Unless, I'm already too far gone to have noticed! Probably that.
For better or worse, I remember almost all my cases over 46 years, and sometimes in great detail. Among them were cases that could have been "my own," had this CO condition gone on any longer. Among the weirder cases was a huge fire that happened at a large photo processing plant (back in the day when cameras used "film" and "one day photo processing" was a thriving business). It was a Rube Goldberg kind of case (almost all the ones I handled were Rube Goldberg kinds of cases, come to think of it...). A drunk driver at the wheel of a Ford Mustang drove through the parking lot of the Photoway processing plant. The drunk was driving fast and his car bounced over the pylons protecting the outside gas meter. The car then rode over the top of the meter and sheared off the control valve. The floorboard of the Mustang then sealed the opening in the gas line where the control valve had been knocked off. Thus, instead of reducing the gas pressure to 4 lbs/sq. inch, the damaged meter (with the Ford Mustang sitting on top acting as a seal to close the hole in the [now unmetered] gas line), the natural gas now flowed into the factory at 100 lbs./sq. inch. The high pressure gas then surged into the factory's ceiling mounted Reznor gas heating appliances, turning all of them into blowtorches! The roof caught fire all over the factory (because ALL of the ceiling mounted gas heaters were now acting as blowtorches) and caused the entire factory to burn to the ground well before the fire department could arrive.
A statistical improbability stacked on a coincidence and the unimaginable. Stranger than fiction. Stranger than a Rube Goldberg alarm clock. Stranger than a White House press conference!
SO very glad that you called PSE!!! Scary stuff. And what about those experts who inspected your furnace but didn’t identify a problem with the heat exchanger, a very basic and vital part?! 🤔
Your experience reminds me of the claims we used to get against WNG. If Corkrum was still among the living, he could relate some very scary events with natural gas appliances, often with deadly outcomes. Failing heat exchangers were not unusual … and apparently still aren’t unusual.
I like your “nosy” correlations and I enjoyed the not-a-fugue. 🙂
If you have a natural gas water heater, or anything else, have it checked by an expert!
Robin, the more we think about this, the more disturbing the possibilities... Was it mere metal fatigue, negligence, or... something intentional? [Looks under the mattress!] Perhaps someone doesn't like my posts at Substack?
I can think of several WNG cases I handled way back when.
In my case, there might well be injuries due to the CO exposure. But there's no way to discriminate between the possible brain damage caused by my recent CO exposure and the brain damage caused by 46 years of practicing law!
I doubt intentional … but I could be wrong. 🤷♀️ More likely the age of the furnace. Whether or not someone should have noticed? Well, yes. Duh. Why do they think you were paying them?!
I recommend you seriously consider a heat pump when you replace that furnace.
I didn’t realize (or remember?) that you also had WNG cases. WNG wasn’t usually liable but, my gosh, there sure were some scary cases.
You know what to do: investigate! Presumably you kept the parts. (If not, I’d say that’s an indicator of brain damage. 😉) Get them tested. Review the reports of at least the last two inspections of your furnace. Hopefully you have a prior cognitive test to compare with a current one. Alternatively, MRIs. Look at the history of the company who tested your furnace; I.e., any claims or lawsuits listed by L&I or against their bond/insurance?
You’re right, the possibilities are frightening. You know, it’s conceivable that the continuing CO exposure slowed you down on resolving the odor issue. You also know it was NOT from practicing law!!
No, I can't attribute this to the age of the furnace - it was well within the warranty period and, as you know, these things never break down from "old age" until AFTER the warranty expires. People are the same, you know. We never break down until after our warranties have expired. Or after we have expired... how does that work, anyway?
And what do you mean by asking why was I paying for the annual furnace inspections? Obviously, I exist to pay them; they don't exist to provide any meaningful service. It's just like "wealth managers" who provide similarly valuable services. The annual furnace inspectors come, wave their hands around, submit a clean bill of health and try to up-sell a bunch of other goods and services. That's what makes 'merica Great! That's their main purpose in the economic life of 'merica: helping to circulate my money (from our bank accounts to theirs). It's our patriotic duty to pay for these inspections even though (apparently) they were completely worthless. Kind of like federal income taxes. But... again, the mere fact that I continued to pay for these inspections year after year must prove that I have always been brain damaged, thus undercutting my claim for damages!
A PI case for brain damage? Hmm. I am not qualified for, nor desirous of, running for national public office - so, clearly I'm not THAT brain damaged because brain damage (or being an egotistical, reflexive liar and psychopath) is a prerequisite. So if a couple of IQ points have been shaved off, can we attribute that to CO exposure or to years before "enlightenment" when I actually used to watch television and considered Dems and Republicans as substantially "different" in more than just style. Brain softening is a clear symptom of believing in "the system" and voting for pre-selected candidates who we think will pursue different policies on substantive issues. Or is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result a symptom of insanity rather than decreased cognition? Or was I once brain damaged and now I'm not? How is that going to support my damages claim based on CO exposure? CO exposure made me see the truth? Arrrghhhhh!! I won't stand up well on cross examination!
And then what about my failure to keep all the "official narratives" straight about all the never resolved events of the past 75+ years? I am completely unable to justify that 2 + 2 = 5 because I clearly remember that it isn't: 2 + 2 = 3!
Whoa - if I even deign to list all these bizarre and unbelievable official narratives I simply cannot swallow because they are patently false, then have I proved/disproved that I am brain-damaged? Clearly, my memory is unimpaired; or is my memory absolutely impaired if I "remember" facts differently from what the "authoritative" sources say are the facts? Probably the latter because by making the list I will cause this entire colloquy to be added to my digital dossier leading, inevitably to a visit from "law enforcement" who will be happy to attribute such "delusions" to either "brain damage," cognitive impairment or my incipient death (soon to be accomplished by yet another CO exposure from a different household gas appliance thereby proving, perhaps, the the initial CO exposure was, indeed, intentional and not the result of negligence).
Another problem is how to distinguish between insanity and brain damage? That's where the 46 year law career factors in. On the other hand, if I have persuaded any court of the merits of my clients' cases, then is this proof positive of brain damage... or does it prove that the judges are brain damaged, not me. You know, I have seen a bit of this recently. Hah! I'm not brain damaged, but everyone else is! They're coming to take me away, ha ha! To the Funny Farm where life is beautiful all the time... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xRCbdFrSSc.
Worse than that, if I prove that I suffered brain damage within the last year due to exposure to CO from the furnace, then will all the clients I billed for my legal services during that time period demand refunds because, clearly, my legal advice and my services were the products of a damaged brain? Ai yi yi! Then I will have to file an amended tax return (or two or three); and, if I was not brain damaged to begin with, dealing with the IRS on this issue or my retroactive reduced income due to refunding clients' payments will certainly make me so.
The other complicating factor is all the posts to this SubStack. If they make sense, then, clearly, the author has sustained major brain damage for posting them. If they don't make sense, then the author has equally clearly sustained major brain damage for posting what doesn't make sense. Ditto the music I am composing and posting on the web. What?? You think that sounds good?Childish noise! No one composes anything musical anymore and, rather, just lets the AI bots scrape the Web and write the music for us! Hah, more proof of dain bramage, n'est-ce pas? And... what's this? Muttering in French? Auf Deutsch? Nuts or brain-dead, one or the other! Or did the CO caused brain damage cause me to hallucinate in suspect languages other than "American?" Dang! Due to CO brain damage, I will likely soon start speaking in tongues, in Chinese, or Farsi or Arabic... or Legalese!
Hmm. What's more, I'm not sure that "winning" this case does me any good. The damages will be paid out in dollars and what are they worth these days? A pile of digital dollar sawdust, and the pile grows rapidly more saw-dusty with every passing day! Considering inflation, the damages paid out to a septuagenarian lawyer with a low actuarial life expectancy and an even lower future working life expectancy won't even pay a year's worth of E&O insurance!
No, the best thing I can do is write a sequel to the last post about everything you and I just discussed... or maybe we just did write that sequel?
You must have had a slow day. Your reply is astounding! I can’t tell you how often I laughed out loud. 😆 And you have definitely written a sequel!
PI possibilities aside, the inspection company needs to know their inspectors are not properly trained … and/or not inspecting properly. That should cause interesting waves.
I enjoyed this post several days ago. IMO, one of your best. Also, enjoyed the discourse between you and Robin Jacobson. Outstanding stuff. Thank you.
Most importantly, you and Elaine are ok. Though, reading the correspondence below, I may have some concerns about you. 🤓
Decades ago, I defended Robin's clients in a variety of personal injury and property damage lawsuits involving natural gas appliances. In my case - fortunately - no harm, no foul. Unless, I'm already too far gone to have noticed! Probably that.
For better or worse, I remember almost all my cases over 46 years, and sometimes in great detail. Among them were cases that could have been "my own," had this CO condition gone on any longer. Among the weirder cases was a huge fire that happened at a large photo processing plant (back in the day when cameras used "film" and "one day photo processing" was a thriving business). It was a Rube Goldberg kind of case (almost all the ones I handled were Rube Goldberg kinds of cases, come to think of it...). A drunk driver at the wheel of a Ford Mustang drove through the parking lot of the Photoway processing plant. The drunk was driving fast and his car bounced over the pylons protecting the outside gas meter. The car then rode over the top of the meter and sheared off the control valve. The floorboard of the Mustang then sealed the opening in the gas line where the control valve had been knocked off. Thus, instead of reducing the gas pressure to 4 lbs/sq. inch, the damaged meter (with the Ford Mustang sitting on top acting as a seal to close the hole in the [now unmetered] gas line), the natural gas now flowed into the factory at 100 lbs./sq. inch. The high pressure gas then surged into the factory's ceiling mounted Reznor gas heating appliances, turning all of them into blowtorches! The roof caught fire all over the factory (because ALL of the ceiling mounted gas heaters were now acting as blowtorches) and caused the entire factory to burn to the ground well before the fire department could arrive.
A statistical improbability stacked on a coincidence and the unimaginable. Stranger than fiction. Stranger than a Rube Goldberg alarm clock. Stranger than a White House press conference!
SO very glad that you called PSE!!! Scary stuff. And what about those experts who inspected your furnace but didn’t identify a problem with the heat exchanger, a very basic and vital part?! 🤔
Your experience reminds me of the claims we used to get against WNG. If Corkrum was still among the living, he could relate some very scary events with natural gas appliances, often with deadly outcomes. Failing heat exchangers were not unusual … and apparently still aren’t unusual.
I like your “nosy” correlations and I enjoyed the not-a-fugue. 🙂
If you have a natural gas water heater, or anything else, have it checked by an expert!
Robin, the more we think about this, the more disturbing the possibilities... Was it mere metal fatigue, negligence, or... something intentional? [Looks under the mattress!] Perhaps someone doesn't like my posts at Substack?
I can think of several WNG cases I handled way back when.
In my case, there might well be injuries due to the CO exposure. But there's no way to discriminate between the possible brain damage caused by my recent CO exposure and the brain damage caused by 46 years of practicing law!
I doubt intentional … but I could be wrong. 🤷♀️ More likely the age of the furnace. Whether or not someone should have noticed? Well, yes. Duh. Why do they think you were paying them?!
I recommend you seriously consider a heat pump when you replace that furnace.
I didn’t realize (or remember?) that you also had WNG cases. WNG wasn’t usually liable but, my gosh, there sure were some scary cases.
You know what to do: investigate! Presumably you kept the parts. (If not, I’d say that’s an indicator of brain damage. 😉) Get them tested. Review the reports of at least the last two inspections of your furnace. Hopefully you have a prior cognitive test to compare with a current one. Alternatively, MRIs. Look at the history of the company who tested your furnace; I.e., any claims or lawsuits listed by L&I or against their bond/insurance?
You’re right, the possibilities are frightening. You know, it’s conceivable that the continuing CO exposure slowed you down on resolving the odor issue. You also know it was NOT from practicing law!!
No, I can't attribute this to the age of the furnace - it was well within the warranty period and, as you know, these things never break down from "old age" until AFTER the warranty expires. People are the same, you know. We never break down until after our warranties have expired. Or after we have expired... how does that work, anyway?
And what do you mean by asking why was I paying for the annual furnace inspections? Obviously, I exist to pay them; they don't exist to provide any meaningful service. It's just like "wealth managers" who provide similarly valuable services. The annual furnace inspectors come, wave their hands around, submit a clean bill of health and try to up-sell a bunch of other goods and services. That's what makes 'merica Great! That's their main purpose in the economic life of 'merica: helping to circulate my money (from our bank accounts to theirs). It's our patriotic duty to pay for these inspections even though (apparently) they were completely worthless. Kind of like federal income taxes. But... again, the mere fact that I continued to pay for these inspections year after year must prove that I have always been brain damaged, thus undercutting my claim for damages!
A PI case for brain damage? Hmm. I am not qualified for, nor desirous of, running for national public office - so, clearly I'm not THAT brain damaged because brain damage (or being an egotistical, reflexive liar and psychopath) is a prerequisite. So if a couple of IQ points have been shaved off, can we attribute that to CO exposure or to years before "enlightenment" when I actually used to watch television and considered Dems and Republicans as substantially "different" in more than just style. Brain softening is a clear symptom of believing in "the system" and voting for pre-selected candidates who we think will pursue different policies on substantive issues. Or is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result a symptom of insanity rather than decreased cognition? Or was I once brain damaged and now I'm not? How is that going to support my damages claim based on CO exposure? CO exposure made me see the truth? Arrrghhhhh!! I won't stand up well on cross examination!
And then what about my failure to keep all the "official narratives" straight about all the never resolved events of the past 75+ years? I am completely unable to justify that 2 + 2 = 5 because I clearly remember that it isn't: 2 + 2 = 3!
Whoa - if I even deign to list all these bizarre and unbelievable official narratives I simply cannot swallow because they are patently false, then have I proved/disproved that I am brain-damaged? Clearly, my memory is unimpaired; or is my memory absolutely impaired if I "remember" facts differently from what the "authoritative" sources say are the facts? Probably the latter because by making the list I will cause this entire colloquy to be added to my digital dossier leading, inevitably to a visit from "law enforcement" who will be happy to attribute such "delusions" to either "brain damage," cognitive impairment or my incipient death (soon to be accomplished by yet another CO exposure from a different household gas appliance thereby proving, perhaps, the the initial CO exposure was, indeed, intentional and not the result of negligence).
Another problem is how to distinguish between insanity and brain damage? That's where the 46 year law career factors in. On the other hand, if I have persuaded any court of the merits of my clients' cases, then is this proof positive of brain damage... or does it prove that the judges are brain damaged, not me. You know, I have seen a bit of this recently. Hah! I'm not brain damaged, but everyone else is! They're coming to take me away, ha ha! To the Funny Farm where life is beautiful all the time... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xRCbdFrSSc.
Worse than that, if I prove that I suffered brain damage within the last year due to exposure to CO from the furnace, then will all the clients I billed for my legal services during that time period demand refunds because, clearly, my legal advice and my services were the products of a damaged brain? Ai yi yi! Then I will have to file an amended tax return (or two or three); and, if I was not brain damaged to begin with, dealing with the IRS on this issue or my retroactive reduced income due to refunding clients' payments will certainly make me so.
The other complicating factor is all the posts to this SubStack. If they make sense, then, clearly, the author has sustained major brain damage for posting them. If they don't make sense, then the author has equally clearly sustained major brain damage for posting what doesn't make sense. Ditto the music I am composing and posting on the web. What?? You think that sounds good?Childish noise! No one composes anything musical anymore and, rather, just lets the AI bots scrape the Web and write the music for us! Hah, more proof of dain bramage, n'est-ce pas? And... what's this? Muttering in French? Auf Deutsch? Nuts or brain-dead, one or the other! Or did the CO caused brain damage cause me to hallucinate in suspect languages other than "American?" Dang! Due to CO brain damage, I will likely soon start speaking in tongues, in Chinese, or Farsi or Arabic... or Legalese!
Hmm. What's more, I'm not sure that "winning" this case does me any good. The damages will be paid out in dollars and what are they worth these days? A pile of digital dollar sawdust, and the pile grows rapidly more saw-dusty with every passing day! Considering inflation, the damages paid out to a septuagenarian lawyer with a low actuarial life expectancy and an even lower future working life expectancy won't even pay a year's worth of E&O insurance!
No, the best thing I can do is write a sequel to the last post about everything you and I just discussed... or maybe we just did write that sequel?
You must have had a slow day. Your reply is astounding! I can’t tell you how often I laughed out loud. 😆 And you have definitely written a sequel!
PI possibilities aside, the inspection company needs to know their inspectors are not properly trained … and/or not inspecting properly. That should cause interesting waves.