Friday, October 15, 2010

A Breath of Fresh Air?

So we found a house that was a likely candidate yesterday, and this morning I dropped Bruce off at work and drove to see what morning traffic was like, checked out the neighborhood, and trolled the adjoining streets and chatted with the walkers. Very friendly people around here.

Yesterday I noticed a "burning plastic" sort of smell and we attributed it to someone getting rid of some trash. Today as I drove into the subdivision, (Franklin is a very small town - the surrounding farms were purchased and developed into multiple subdivisions) I noticed the smell again today, and after two hours of being there, I had a raging headache, my throat and chest hurt, and my eyes burned.  I went back to the apartment and got online to check out possible air quality issues and discovered that a wire plant about 1/2 mile from the neighborhoods we were investigating releases emissions of phenol (in compliance with the EPA).  There are petitions and grievances filed against the company, but no solution in sight.

I have a "fragrance allergy" and a common ingredient in perfumes and air fresheners is phenol.  Bummer!  But it was better to discover the issue before we signed a purchase agreement.  (It would only have been a problem when the prevailing wind was from the North or Northwest - or basically all winter.) The wind changed yesterday morning to the NW; otherwise, I would not have known about it. God is kind.

So tomorrow is Saturday, and I fly back to Iowa on Sunday. It will be interesting to see what God has in store for us, house-wise. I trust His timing - He is never late.

(Sometimes I do question His sense of humor, however!)

No comments:

Post a Comment