My husband thought it funny why I wanted a carbon monoxide detector but hearing stories like these, this is why. We dont know when that stuff is leaking so why not get a detector for it? I mean we get smoke detectors why not this one? The one I got at Lowe’s was $25…so there not that expensive.

In some areas, those who are Sr. Citizens, are protected from having their power shut off during the cold months. I am in Michigan, and have Consumers energy…and I don;t know if it is a mandate, or not…but by signing a form, my electricity will not be shut off, if I am not able to pay. With the economic situation we are facing, it would be criminal, in my opinion, for ANY power company to simply shut off electricity, when there are other options… Especially now, when through no fault of their own, many people are unemployed—and have no means to pay, what I consider the exorbitant ‘fees’ attached to their usage charges. Example—-II must pay a ‘fee’ to get the natural gas to get to my area Guess what? I did some research a few years or so ago, when that ;fee’ was added to my bill….the natural gas traveled thru a pipeline that had been built YEARS ago…it was not a new pipeline—-but all of a sudden, we had to ‘pay’ for the gas to flow thru it. And I think back on the manipulations of Enron, when they moved electricity from one part of the country to another—-shutting off electricity to one area, creating backouts on purpose, so that they could make more money by forcing purchase from a higher priced location….. There are options: What if the Electric companies allowed the use of electricity in off peak hours, for a few hours a day? Enough time to heat the home, cook some food, take a shower, watch the news…what if that were MANDATORY? There will be many others who will not be able to pay their bills. There are charitable organizations that will assist one with the electrical bill…especially in the winter. Two winters ago, there was a family that lived down the street from me, who rented their house—-it was literally one of those situations where EITHER the energy bill was paid, OR buy food. The children walked door to door, more than once, asking if we could donate food so they could have dinner…..my block of neighbors could see for ourselves they needed some help…..and many of us worked together to get them thru that winter—-and I believe this year and next—-we are ALL going to get to know our neighbors more than we ever thought we would want to.

My apartment building supplied carbon monoxide detectors to us and had the super come around and install them, he even checked my name off on a list, so there was no excuse not to have one. I believe it is law here in NY. It takes just a few minutes to install this monitor. Isn’t it worth your peace of mind? It is smaller than a paperback book.

Every home in the entire country should have a carbon monoxide detector. Just as we are required to have fire detectors, so too should we with carbon monoxide detectors. This is such a sad story and so sad that it may not have made national news, but as we are online right now, others are dying from the same thing.

This is so sad. It happens every winter in the northern states. I hope we will learn to take better care of each other with Obama in charge.

at least she never knew what hit her—-and yeah CO detectors should be all over—-i’m getting one—-mr. landlord, as in Eddie Murphy’s neighborhood is one cheap rich-guy—-i pay plenty for a dinky ‘bunker’ in a ‘tres swank’ location—-but, as this Fla., i don’t need heat, but the ‘hot-water’? comes from a gas-fired deal from 1939—-always going out—-what i wonder, aside from my butt blown into orbit, how does an ancient, Giant gas water-heater be monitored for CO leaks—-this guy doesn’t care—-thanks for the clue—-i’m litagous—-

this could have happened to me the winter i spent in northern minnesota—the first half of it without heat till i bought a kerosene heater. fortunately, it did not asphyxiate me. (at the time i thought: “call out the national guard! bring my home up to standard!”) thank you to wow for posting this story.

There is a way for all of us to help reduce these types of tragic incidents. This way is earned generosity. I have a graphic for readers which is small, fast loading and will only you a minute to look. This is a priceless reward for earned generosity. http://www.purlgurl.net/aue/want_work.jpg This note scribbled on rough paper and left on a kitchen counter, is truly priceless, is truly one of the best rewards you can earn. Some readers here at WoW know our family owns a fair bit of rental homes. This makes for a safe and a reliable income. However, rental homes also present moral dilemma; sometimes we have to decide if to evict or to help. Recently, we have taken to reducing rent fees for those families who are having a hard time because of job loss. Seems wrong to kick out people for circumstances beyond their control. We enjoy a very young couple who are having a hard time. In a sense, we have adopted them. She is twenty-three and has a five year old boy. Father is absent. You know the story. Her boyfriend is the same age. He is an excellent tile setter, a skill taught to him by his father. He lost his job, laid off and does not qualify for unemployment benefits. His girlfriend now has two jobs, he looks for work but we know this is an impossible task these days. His girl is determined to do better in life and she certainly works hard, at minimum wages. Few months back, she decided to pursue a college degree through a reputable online college; no time to attend in person with working two jobs. They are constantly behind with their rent. Are we to evict this couple? Almost all landlords would. Rather than evict we are offering earned generosity to help this family to survive. Our earned generosity is inventing work for the boy. Over the past six months or so, we have invented four jobs for him and, tonight, I invented another job for him through our extended family. Typically, when a rental home becomes vacant we go through the house and completely refurbish a house so new tenants can move into a very nice, clean and well kept home for a rent rate below average market; we are not greedy and we take pride in offering quality in exchange for rent. Part of this process is replacing carpet and flooring. My husband and I talked this over and arrived at a decision to have each kitchen, bath, maybe an entry for each vacated home tiled rather than usual linoleum. Tile is more expensive but never needs to be replaced. This saves us money in the long run, saves money on upkeep. Four times we have invented tile jobs for this boy, at a current fair market rate of pay. This is keeping this family in their rented home, our rental home. He works for us, we give him free rent for month, one job, two months free rent. This is a win-win for everyone. To help his girl with college, I bought her a year old Dell computer on Ebay. Quite cheap, less than three-hundred dollars and a very nice system. I loaded Windows XP, loaded a word processor, dictionary, thesaurus and other education related software. I explained my expectation is she will work hard, pass all her classes, will take her college program seriously. So far, she is doing excellent. This is earned generosity. This is not charity. We offer work, they earn their pay. All can be proud. They retain their dignity, we receive value. There is an added benefit beyond the girl earning a college degree. Through inventing work for her boy, we are introducing him to others who will hire him to perform tile work; both he and our family are working at establishing a meanful future for him. He works, we are making business connections for him. Should more Americans engage in earned opportunity, an act which generates pride for all, if more people would do this there would be less tragic incidents such as up in Fresno. If only someone had created a bit of work for her, she could have paid her utility bills…. Do give this some thought. This earned generosity helps all Americans, much more than our government is helping Americans. We must take care of our own, our government will not take care of us. If your family is in a position to create work, any work, small or big, do so; this is a win-win for all of us. Okpulot Taha Choctaw Nation

Kelly has a kind heart, “I’d never heard the term earned generosity.” This is when a person earns your generosity. You and your family are displaying generosity by creating work for this other family, and they are earning your generosity through working for you. Kelly, you did not have to provide work, you did this because you are kind and caring. This is generosity. This type of generosity is so much better than ordinary charity. All involved retain their pride and dignity. There is no begging, no handout, no soup line involved. A person needs help, people like you and me offer work. This is the right way to help others. Should one-third of American families each offer temporary work to another family in need, this would really help to carry our country through these bad times, with no help from our government. Doubtful we could provide enough work to prevent big ticket problems like foreclosure, but we can provide enough work to help families from going hungry or having their utilities shut off. Nice part of earned generosity is only those who are willing to work benefit from this. Those who expect a handout without having to work, tough luck. This sorts hard working people from lazy people. Would be nice if these efforts your family and our family display would become a grassroots effort. I would be delighted to shame the wealthy and shame our government by showing them we common people can take better care of our citizens than anyone. Okpulot Taha Choctaw Nation

I am hoping this government will be able to re-establish some programs like the CCC and WPA to put people to work rebuilding our infrastructure.