Yay, PG&E!
Yay PG&E customer service!
Got home tonight, in a pretty good mood for the first time in a while, and found a notice on my door saying that PG&E had turned off my gas. Something about being called away in the middle of servicing my gas meter? I didn't quite understand it. But it said I would have to call them and have someone come out and examine my appliances before the gas could be turned back on. I got immediately distressed and grumpy, figuring that they wouldn't be able to come out for a day or two, which would be difficult because I'm leaving town tomorrow morning (and I didn't want to leave my guests without heat). I called PG&E's service number and had to navigate through a mildly annoying phone tree.
But the person who answered the phone was friendly and polite and reasonable, and explained that they had to have someone check to make sure my home was safe before they could turn the gas back on. And I remembered the last time I tried to do anything with a pilot light and how stressful I found it, following the directions precisely but not being completely certain I wasn't going to blow up the house. And then they made clear that someone would come tonight to deal with it, and I got a lot happier. And then they apologized.
And an hour later, a friendly and calm service person showed up at my door, and apologized again, and turned the gas back on, and did a more thorough check of my gas appliances than I think anyone's ever done, despite my bumbleheaded uncertainty about things like which of my appliances were gas. And they re-lit the pilot lights, and answered questions, and pointed out a couple of small issues that could get worse later on (and suggested that I could talk with a furnace repair place if I wanted to get those items fixed), and in all ways they were polite and friendly and professional, and it was a nice experience all around. And now I can be completely confident that the loss and restoration of gas have had no ill effects.
So, yay! Thank you, PG&E!