It's 9 AM on a busy Saturday morning. One of the last things I have time to do is write a blog post.... but this simply can't wait. I just finished selling a customer a quart of Kilz primer. Kilz is an excellent product for covering up stains and sealing in smells. I know. That in itself does not sound like a very compelling post, but please read on.
This customer, a lady who owns a park model trailer in one of the area campgrounds, explained to me that she had "some smoke damage" from a candle she had forgotten to extinguish. Apparently, she had gone to sleep and for one reason or another, woke up to an unusual smell. She opened the sliding pocket door from her bedroom and saw the inside of her trailer filled with thick smoke. She noticed a small open flame in the area where she had left the candle. While she slept, the candle had continued to burn and actually melted the whole side of a TV set. It also melted the blinds in her bay window. Instinctively, she grabbed a glass of water and miraculously used it to extinguish the flame. By this time, in her explanation, I could sense her voice beginning to crack. According to her, God must have been watching because the small amount of water actually worked.
Smoke damage is a terrible thing to deal with. I remember years ago when my Grandma had a pot of barbecued beef burn on her stove. It took weeks to rid the house of the smell and soot, but we were happy to do it. She was not injured and lived to cook many more meals. Fortunately, my customer was also OK. Her smoke filled trailer was not so lucky.
The last thing my customer told me as she walked away with her purchases (probably the first of many to complete her difficult task) is that she actually had a smoke alarm.... but she had failed to check the batteries! What do you think I am going to do when I get home tonight?
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