Some days...

Some days it just doesn't pay to go to work. Of course, being retired I don't go to work most days unless you call all my "fun" volunteer jobs work. But I still spend 4 to 6 hours one day a week at the Alta California Regional Center which is why I heard about their traumatic Monday a couple of days after it occurred.

It was a usual Monday, maybe a little more hectic because there were workmen around replacing some air conditioning equipment on the roof. Then around 11:00 someone reported a funny smell in the accounting area and the adult units above that area. Soon a visible cloud could be seen in some of the cubicles and aisle ways. Staff were reporting headaches. Evacuation of the building was ordered and the fire department was called to investigate.

It turned out to be a freon leak but oddly enough from equipment lines that were not involved in the replacement units the workmen were there working on. Although staff was assured that the freon was non-toxic, the oily odor was overpowering and only slowly dispersing even with additional venting fans brought in. Some staff were even concerned about going back to their desks or the break room to get their lunches. Management staff agreed to retrieve any such lunches. Finally, the decision was made to send the staff home for the rest of the day.

While stragglers were chatting in the outside patio area wondering when it really would be safe to go back in, someone noticed a swarm of honey bees in a nearby tree. They didn't appear to be threating the Alta employees but a pure mass of 10,000 bees is still intimidating. Calls were put in to our building owner, property manager, and exterminator. Someone in the group decided there had to be a better way. They called Uncle Jerry from Jerry's Cookies & Honeybees.

Uncle Jerry, dressed in beekeeper regalia and sporting a less than state-of-the-art tree saw, soon had the bees following him and his honeycombs to a new hive he had brought for them. With the bees safely in their new home (except for a few stragglers of their own) Uncle Jerry then proceeded to share some of his delicious cookies with his new loyal fan club. The exterminators were called off.

I'm just sorry I missed it and the opportunity to get some pictures for the blog.