Lilly Sway

I do not have a big black Labrador or something, is what I said to the gas company. No I do not have a dog in my yard at all I repeated, I was informed by a message on my telephone that I had to be home for an accurate meter reading this month, or I would have to accept the bill with an estimate of our usage. So I called to ask why I had to be home there are no locks on our gates and the meter is in plain site, The representative for the gas company said that my dog would hold the meter reader at bay and that frankly he was afraid that the dog would bite him. I said I do not own a dog ours had passed away two years ago, she said that the meter reader was there between the 19th and 20th of the month every month and that he could no longer stand the thought of the dog chasing back to the gate entrance he said the dog nipped his pants. and snarled at him.

I just laughed it off and said while I feel for the meter reader I was sure that he was mistaken about the address because I do not have a dog. I must have hit a nerve with this lady she informed me that this was no laughing matter and that she was recording the conversation for the sake of training purposes. I again repeated to her that I did not have a pet in my yard and that there was something wrong with her paper work or the man had the wrong address. She informed me of the law and how they do not have to read the meter if the person feels threatened.

I said wait a minute please, and listen I do not have a dog I have two gold fish, a turtle, 3 salamanders, 1 wayward cat, and ant farm but no dog. She asked if I would like to acknowledge that I would not have my meter read until the problem was corrected. I felt exasperated and as if I had been on the phone with no one on the other end. I asked for the supervisor and proceeded to tell her again that there was no dog in our family at this time, and there was some kind of mistake going on here she said she would have a supervisor call me back. I ran through the house and asked if anyone had a dog that they were hiding, or feeding, or were they sitting a dog for someone else, all the replies were no.

I waited for the supervisor who returned my call( the next day), He said that he had done research on our meter, and their past readings, and then he said that we had not had an accurate bill in 5 months, I asked “why not” he said at every interval there was the matter of my dog in the way, or that the meter reader was afraid to come into the property. I asked if it was the policy to wait this long to address the problems encountered on the route of the meter readers? He said that sometimes it take that long to get a response from the owner I said your office called me only yesterday and I immediately returned the call.

He did not respond to that, but to say that had the dog problem been corrected I would have had a regular bill. I now have a 5 month accumulation of in correct amounts in their favor to pay. I read all of my past bills they did not inform me of a problem reading the meter, or of a dog issue. But really all this aside I reiterated that I have no dog and that there was a big mistake somewhere he asked if I could be there for the meter reader on Thursday last. I was and there and there was no dog as I had said, but this was a gentleman that comes out only when there is a problem with access to a property and the owner is there by request (He knew nothing about the alleged dog).

Today I got the bill it was $669.00 and I am out raged and can barely hold the anger inside enough to wait the 22 minutes that it takes to talk to a real person and then I am told that due to the estimates of the low billing because of the dog,(the one I do not have). I will have to pay it. I was  livid by then and felt very exhausted. This was because I know that I could not possibly pay this bill this month. I have a winter average bill of $80 to $180.00, not $600.00 plus. The gas company says that no matter the dog the reading is accurate and I will have to pay the bill or be turned off, because the bill reflects the proper usage. to date. I hung up the phone and sat down to my cold coffee and pen and paper to budget what I can in order to come up with the money, I did not pay the car, we are already on a potato, bean mystery meat diet. so there was no way to cut back there, I did not pay the water bill and there is not enough still to take care of this disaster.

I sat and thought about the dog issue and realized that my neighbor has a big black Doberman pincher in his back yard (this dog could never be confused with a Lab). I walked out and then I remembered it the fence was gone, I saw it the fence was gone between the yards since Ike(The big Hurricane ), and my neighbor had put an electric fence that would keep the dog in his yard through his collar, but when I went in the yard old Riley the dog just looked my way and kept eating his breakfast, so I called to him and there it was, the problem he came all the way across both yards and licked my hand. I  petted his head and took him back home and told my very nice neighbor that his collar was not working. so he put on a new spare collar and poor old Riley was stuck in his yard again. I will have to find a way to solve this problem, and come up with the money or not, but I really do wish that the gas company had left a note or something sooner. I have learned that even if you think that there is nothing else that can go wrong or that you are sure that you are right you probably have not thought about it all the way through.

Food For the Mind

Lilly’s Way

www.lillysway.com