There goes the neighborhood...

Well, it just never stops around here. I just had the pleasure of seeing three lovely and dramatic mushroom clouds rise outside the kitchen window. Turns out a nearby car rental office with a bunch of propane tanks out back exploded, six times. Nearby means a block and a half away. Worse, the Hertz rental is directly across from a gas station that's a mere 3/4 block away.

All this was enough to have me down three flights of stairs, out on the street and over to Rainbow Grocery's payphone with a naughty toddler and a reticent rabbit in tow faster than you can say "fuck this shit." Couldn't find my cell phone, of course. Huz picked us up, we spent a few minutes trying to decide what to do, and he opted for just taking us back home rather than bringing a rabbit, an infant and a sullen spouse back to the office. I'm sure he then headed down the street to gawk at the fire and pester the cops with dumb questions.

According to the live coverage I'm watching right now, the two blocks surrounding the explosions have been evacuated. Like I said, I'm typing this from a block away. They're also saying that nobody was killed, unbelievably. Not yet, anyway. If I live through this, my husband is in for a well-deserved whuppen. Stay tuned.

postscript-- I lived. 120 firefighters had this thing put out in an hour, before it hit the nearby gas station. With this city's fire history I guess they've got their system down.