Saturday, October 30, 2010

There's a Fee for That and Mixed Blessing

Right now I'm so angry I could spit.  This is bad because I don't plan to rant about the low lifes who put explosives on a plane from Yemen.  I'm going to rant about my gas company.  Yes, my gas company, we choose our gas company in Georgia just like most of us choose our cell phone provider. 

Before I moved here I thought this was a good idea.  There would be rate competition and if I didn't like the service a provider gave I could change.  That is at least once per year for free.  I did my due diligence and decided on Georgia Natural Gas. 

Everything went fine until yesterday afternoon.  I noticed it was taking an extra long time for the water to run hot.  I stocked it up to my impatience.  Later Andrea said there was no hot water for her shower.  I took a peak at the water heater and instead of seeing a blue flame, I saw a black void of nothingness.  So I looked at the furnace.  I couldn't really see anything so I turned off the light and still saw nothing.  I wasn't alarmed because I had opened the utility closet that morning to look for the dog carrier.  (It wasn't in there.  It's still missing.)  I thought opening and closing a door that is rarely moved might have blown out the pilots.  The funny thing was I didn't smell gas. 

None of my neighbors knew how to light the water heater so we skipped our showers.  No big deal for one night.

I called the apartment maintenance first thing this morning.  I told them I needed my water heater lit and my furnace checked.  A maintenance man came out shortly.  He did his thing for a few minutes and reported, "You have no gas."  He went on to say I needed to called the gas company.  I checked my online bank and saw the payment had cleared the middle of this month.  The gas company's computer also had credited my account for the payment. 

After explaining my problem to the customer service rep this is the garbage I got.  "Is your meter locked?;

"I don't know.  I don't even know where my meter is."

"Did the maintenance man say your meter is locked?" 

I could see this was getting nowhere fast.  "He didn't say anything about my meter and he isn't here now." 

"Ask him to come back and see if you're meter is locked.  If it is not locked I can call Atlanta Gaslight and have them come fix it.  If your meter is not locked it is an issue with something else like your appliances and there will be a fee to have them come out." 

I didn't know if I should hit the floor or the ceiling first.  I chose the ceiling.  "I'm not paying.  This is not my fault.  I live in an apartment and these are not my appliances.  They are both off so it's clearly a gas problem.  What does Atlanta Gaslight have to do with this?. 

Apparently Atlanta Gaslight distributes gas to companies light Georgia Natural Gas.  The meters belong to Atlanta Gaslight.  If they come out and the meter isn't the problem they want to get paid. 

"This is not my property, and this is due to no fault of my own.  How could this happen anyway?"  I rant.

The rep didn't know how this could happen.  She also had no idea why I was without gas.  In fact her records showed everything as being fine. 

I had one more question for her.  "Could you have turned off the wrong meter?  My neighbor in J is moving, maybe you turned off I by accident.  She couldn't even tell me if the people in J had gas service with them or another company. 

As I was leaving the building while talking to the apartment management on my cell, I saw my neighbor in J's brother.  He was amazed that the gas company would ask if my meter was locked.  He said he would go take a look.  When he returned he said one meter was lock but he couldn't tell which unit it belongs too.  He also said his brother hadn't had their gas turned off yet. 

I called Georgia Natural Gas back and told them to send somebody from Atlanta Gaslight to fix my gas problem.  I went to the office to talk to Management about this fee.  I spoke with Irish, the assistant manager.  She was also floored about the fee.  She asked how much the fee would be.  I told her they said it would be at least sixty dollars.  Irish was astonished too.  I told her that a meter is locked but I don't know whose it is.  I also told her I wasn't paying a fee.  Irish then called the head of maintenance to see if he'd go take a look at the meter to see if he could figure out anything.  He reminded her of how they had gotten in trouble for unlocking a meter in the past.  Irish said to go ahead and call the gas company and we'd both dispute the fee.  I told her I had already called because this wasn't my fault. 

The first maintenance man came back this afternoon to see what the gas company did.  I told him they hadn't been here yet.  He and Andrea went to look at the meters.  Andrea said he pointed out one that was definitely broken and three others that were off.  That couldn't tell which meters belongs to who.  I'm surprised nobody else in the building has complained. There are ten units in this building.

Someone is supposed to be here between two and six.  It's now 5:44 and no sign of anybody from any gas company. I'll call again at straight up six o'clock.  They tried to assure me someone would come tonight.  I asked at what time can I assume nobody was coming.  They said midnight.  So two and a quarter more hours.  Who wants to bet nobody comes.  I'm thinking up compensation for my inconvenience.  I'm thinking a free January or February bill.

Well the gas man showed up just after midnight.  I was surprised to say the least.  He didn't understand why my meter was off either.  he did his thing and re lit the pilots and checked for code compliance.  The water heater passed but the furnace failed.  He said the furnace had a possible crack in the heat exchanger.  So my furnace needs to be looked at, fixed, and preferable replaced.  Unfortunately Georgia isn't as strict as Utah.  If a gas furnace or water heater is condemned by the gas company they put a lock on it that can't be removed by anyone else.  Once the problem is fixed they come out, inspect it, and remove the lock.  In George they just turn the gas off to that appliance with the problem, put a tag on it explaining the problem,  say it needs to be fixed, and call it a day. 

The problem I have with that is he also said they had tagged my furnace before for the same issue and apparently it wasn't fixed.  I asked how would I know if it got fixed or maintenance just came in, twiddled their thumbs and left.  He said I could call the gas company to come back and look at it.  I wonder if that would involve a fee?  Oh about this infamous fee; the gas man doesn't think I should be charged because he has no idea why my meter was off but unlocked.  He did say he'd talk to the people in charge of turn ons and shut offs.  I can see a fee dispute ahead of me for sure. 

I'd be looking for a second opinion about the heat exchanger if, number one, it was my furnace and responsibility, and number two, a heat and air guy had said it needed to be replaced.  I know they say that sometimes to get business.  I don't think the gas supplier is in the business of selling furnaces so his findings are probably legitimate. 

You're no doubt guessing how all this can be a mixed blessing.  Well if my gas hadn't gone off for some yet unexplainable reason I wouldn't have know there was a serious issue with the furnace.  Well into battle I go.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Make up Your Mind, School

"Mom, guess what?" my thirteen-year-old daughter exclaimed.  "We can wear jeans to school now!  I knew you wouldn't believe me so I got (math teacher's name) to write you a note." 

Sure enough, the math teach had written a note stating the same thing my daughter had said.  Later that evening the school's computer called and gave the message about wearing jeans as well.

This shouldn't be a big deal to me but it is a deal of some size nonetheless.  This school changes its dress code willie-nillie.  Why can't they come up with a dress code before school lets out in May and stick with it until the following May?  This seems logical to me.

Instead, they change the dress code whenever the mood strikes.  I took my daughter to the school to pick up registration materials back in early July.  I was given a sheet of paper listing the uniform colors.  For this blog I'll just give the shirt colors for now.  Shirts could be red, white, navy, or gray.  We bought red, white, and gray.  When we got to orientation on August 20th (School started August 23rd) They had a changed uniform policy already.  Now shirts could be only red, white, or navy.  So back to the store to make an exchange. 

What kid doesn't have jeans?  What's the point of having uniforms if you can wear jeans?  The only rule is no designs on the legs.  My daughter and the friends she walks to school with all wore jeans today.  I bet the entire student body did too. 

My new neighbor was especially upset because of the change.  She just moved in a few weeks ago from out of state.  Her money is tight and she had just purchased uniform pants for her son.  He had been wearing shorts but because of the change in the weather shorts are no longer practical.  My neighbor said her son has plenty of jeans and the new uniform pants can't be returned because they've been worn once. 

The dress code calls for coats to be school colors but solid.  This would make since if, most people didn't come from out of state, and they stuck with their policies.  My daughter has two coats, both of which still fit.  The solid one is not school colors and the other is a red and black plaid.  Now they don't wear coats to class.  They leave them in their lockers.  So please explain to me why it would matter what color their coats are if they're only wearing them to and from school.  I am not buying another coat. 

I've always been against school uniforms.  The arguments in favor of them just sound like weak parenting and feel good liberalism.  Kids may as well learn from the get go that life isn't fair or equal.  Some people make more money than others.  If parents can't afford expensive clothes then tell the child no.  It's that simple.  Buy what you can afford.  Some say gang colors are the reason for requiting uniforms.  Come on, if gang members can't wear their colors to school they will come up with another symbol: hairstyle, jewelry, facial expression for that matter.  Every problem can't be cured with conformity. 

School dress code should be wear clean clothes that cover your cleavage, midriff, and butt.  Then leave the rest to the parents.  Some will dress from Nordstrum or Bloomingdales, others will dress from the dollar store and thrift shops, while most will dress from stores in between.  So what, that's life. 

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Turning 50

I turned fifty, (the big 5 o) today.  Surprisingly enough, I didn't dread it.  I can hardly believe it, but I didn't dread it.  I expected to dread turning fifty because it took me two years to get over turning forty.  Now that was traumatic.  For some reason when I turned forty-nine I felt as if I was already fifty.  so I will have been fifty for two years in my mind. 

Reflecting on my life is something I tried to avoid.  What have I done in the half century I've been on this earth?  Well at least the past quarter century.  Let's see, I've gotten older, I've gotten fatter, and I've managed to see the world!!!  Oh, I almost forget about that,  I travelled extensively after I was twenty-five.  Lets keep this positive roll going.  I moved out of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, but I'm still saddled with a house built in 1889.  See there's a flip side to everything.  So I'm a landlord now, is that a good thing?  I have three daughters and two marriages.  The daughters are great.  I discovered I'm not one to be married.  One daughter is living on her own in the Midwest, another is in college, and the youngest is still a teenager.  I'm a legally blind contributor to several stock photography agencies, that counts for something. 

"What do you do for work?" people used to ask me.  "Look,"  became my standard reply.  That was true, I looked for work.  The only exception was while I lived in Utah.  There I worked my way up from fast food restaurants to the high end Mulboones.  However, my favorite job was working for SOS Temporary Services at R. and R. Donnelley.  It was ideal for me.  I walked to work in about fifteen minutes.  We could clock in five minutes early.  It was assembly line work packaging computer programs and the books that came with them back in the day.  We talked and played the radio.  Lunch was fort-five minutes, enough time to walk to Arby's, sit down and eat off the dollar menu.  Next clock in five minutes early, work some more, and off at 3:30.  Where else can you get paid for a extra fifty minutes a week?  But mostly I looked for work. 

I started looking after I graduated from high school.  I didn't get hired so I went to college.  I didn't get hired so I got Married.  I got divorced and did the fast food, Donnelley thing.  While doing the fast food thing I looked for better work.  After we moved back to Pine Bluff I looked for work some more.  I even got an expert certification in Microsoft Office to prove to an employer  that I could use a computer.   in 2007 I gave up looking.  I had been looking since 1979.  The trigger point happened when two people whom I had known for ten years asked, "Can you see to do that?"  I was floored, astonished, astounded, and even gobsmacked.  People whom I had known for ten years were asking me if I could see to do a copy editor's job.  That did it.  Some, maybe many, would disagree, but I was through.  No more taking the bus to places to fill out applications or interview, no more explaining what I could and couldn't see, no more explaining to a prospective employer that I can work in a fast paced, cluttered, demanding, etc, environment without hurting myself.  If people I had know for a long time didn't realize I could do a job, how in the world could I convince someone I just met?    

I turned my passions into extra money.  I won't say profit yet.  I started submitting photographs to stock photography agencies; and lo, and behold they were accepted and some sold.  Others have sold over and over.  I've sold  AVON products on and off for several years.  It's okay but I much prefer selling the candles I make here at home.  Everybody loves a vacation and I love Polynesia.  Kalani's Kandles was born out of that combination.  I specialize in exotic, tropical, and unusual fragrances.  You can get a candle that smells like Hawai`i or a candle that smells like money. 

So turning fifty today got me thinking about my life.  It is what it is.

Until next time,
Wanda