Saturday, June 1, 2013

First day of Hurricane Season....And about a month ago there was a problem, an anomaly with our city water system...



And due to us utilizing our minimal, but efficient rain barrels of 110 gallons that refill frequently not always due to rain, but humidity too, for our gardens; it was highly unlikely that we actually used nine thousand gallons in one month of the city water, since our usual usage is anywhere from 4-5K a month, without a leak or a bad meter or a theft!

The mystery, as of yet has not been resolved but Hubby has been keeping track this month, since with evaporation of the pool and even the pond they both need periodic filling for their filtering systems to work properly.
And rain water does have some imperfections that could not do well with the fish or the pool filters. But that is why Hubby this month checked the meter when he filled both and not even five hundred gallons were used, a fraction of that!
So now we are wondering where four thousand gallons could have gone…and of course we were charged for them and so I had called the Charlotte County Utilities when our bill went up over thirty-seven dollars in one month to over $129, when it has been around $92 a month with the clearly four or so more additional thousand adding up! And the $92 is for using five thousand, $82 is for four thousand and on and on …and it is also for our sewers, but ridiculous! We have two bathrooms and a kitchen too… and yes we wash dishes even with our dishwasher, but we would run out of dishes with just the two of us! Yes, we tried to use the dishwasher with just us, but without the boys here it never fills up and we ended up washing them anyway…Yes, Florida does have very high water charges, but in the good, we have lower home taxes than NJ.

Hubby having worked as a apprentice plumber while going through college, in all our forty-two years of marriage have never had to call a plumber, why he even installed several new and renovated bathrooms over the years, one of his many jobs, but he checked for leaks from our outdoor faucet’s as well as our bathrooms and even our meter itself, but to this day, a month later, it remains a mystery! Although, my paranoia has told me some one stole the gallons when we went out! And sure it is possible; some have had to put locks on their outdoor faucets!

And PS last month’s use was for 30 days and this month is for thirty too, according to when they read, not the days in the month, okay and he checked since the number is on the bills and of course on the meter too and this month, as before, it shows that we used just between four and five thousand gallons!

So of course I called when we received the bill last month, and tried to explain to the woman, Sue, that we have never used that much water in one month, but at that time she was adamant and I was too, and so we butted heads. I suggested that they were gouging us and that we have lived in this home for nearly fifteen years and we know how much just the two of us use!
Sprint ahead to this past week, I was still thinking about the ridiculousness of the whole thing that if I didn’t follow-up they would get away with just thinking we accepted the wrong amount being billed, (although I had paid it since it was due then), to us for WE DID NOT USE THOSE NINE THOUSAND GALLONS, perhaps half, more than likely, but not all of them!
And we pay our bills like clockwork so it was not two months of bills put together. The month before was for the half of that amount of usage! I do keep very good records.
This time I told her immediately who I was and asked her nicely to bring up our account and she did and saw that in fact we had never used that much! AHA! The most was once around six, I thought maybe that was when we filled the pool, the date was right.
And so she agreed that we could fill out a form online that I did to dispute the amount, an ‘owner adjustment request’ form. And it was mailed out Friday, since our conversation transpired on Thursday.
We should be entitled to a bit of a refund she suggested… we will see what we will see.

Moving on…
Today, is the first day of our Hurricane Season 2013, which as you all know, runs from June first through to November thirtieth.

The names will be: Andrea, Barry, Chantal, Dorian, Erin, Fernand, Gabrielle, Humberto, Ingrid, Jerry, Karen, Lorenzo, Melissa, Nestor, Olga, Pablo, Rebekah, Sebastien, Tanya, Van and Wendy.

“For the six-month hurricane season, which begins June 1, NOAA’s Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook says there is a 70 percent likelihood of 13 to 20 named storms (winds of 39 mph or higher), of which 7 to 11 could become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or higher), including 3 to 6 major hurricanes (Category 3, 4 or 5; winds of 111 mph or higher).

These ranges are well above the seasonal average of 12 named storms, 6 hurricanes and 3 major hurricanes.”

Scary!
 But we are prepared, as prepared as any of us can be… and so PRAY!

On that note of some note, allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you to kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know who and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

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