I’ve been incognito the last while, tying up some loose ends on a few things and with Spring just around the corner I’ve been in Spring Cleaning mode – doggy dung is high on that priority list and no, it’s not a fun chore 
Oh Kim – Hydro Ottawa Smart Meter – Deal or No Deal?
In case anyone is following our Smart Meter saga – a quick update. Hydro Ottawa representative Kim called us last Friday – I guess she’s the fence on the front lines whose job it is to make customers think she’s bending over backwards where billing issues are concerned. Her call wasn’t because we were on her “To-do” list – even though that’s what she insists. We contacted the MPP office of Dalton McGuinty – Ottawa South on Thursday last week (Mar 12) and laid out the story of the defective meter, the $2945 bill and the idiocies involved leading up to it. I have to say Lauren at the MPP’s office was onto this in less than an hour after receiving our email – thank you Lauren! Meanwhile back at Hydro Ottawa and our new best friend Kim we’re still waiting to hear back from her again. She offered us a 25/75% split (us 75 them 25 of course) of the “adjustment” billing charges – we said no thank you – she then questioned how we could have agreed to a 50/50 split last fall – we refreshed her memory – we’d suggested at that time that if Hydro Ottawa were a responsible Company they would look at this issue for what it was – an all round comedy of errors and they would sit down with us and perhaps say “let’s do this 50/50″. Her answer back then had been a resounding NO. Well, Kim felt she’d try to edge up to that split anyway and offered us a 40/60 split. Our final offer? Wipe the entire thing off the table because last years generosity of spirit has wained quite substantially. Our current hydro readings are once again right in line with our history since 2004-2007 pre-smart meter times so the mountainous and erroneous charges (30,000+ kws) that the first smart meter rang up in under a year is still about 2,400 kws higher than any of our past years if we were to take it to the extreme of 2300kws every month for a 12 month period (which by the way is actually a one time bill that we had one winter about 3 years ago – the rest of our history has always fallen between 1100kws summer and 1800kws winter).
Our little phone call in Nov/Dec solidified our attitude actually when Hydro Ottawa informed us as a “courtesy” that if we were even one day past the due date our full erroneous bill would come due and payable immediately and we’d have our services disconnected and be slapped with a $1000 reconnection fee – season of disconnect would not be considered – which told us that even a Mid-January freeze would be pretty cool if we messed up. Actually our talk with Kim last fall went something like this, “We are going to charge your account additionally over and above your hydro use charge every billing for the next 3 years, no interest of course. Do you agree?” We pondered the choice we had at the time – pay for 3 years and keep hydro or pay immediately and keep hydro – the option to sit down and negotiate this excess error in billing wasn’t provided to us and when we suggested it we were told flatly NO. So I guess our attitude now is such that we’ve finally caught up to Kim’s from last fall and just like Kim – we’ve finally learned to say NO too.
So, as Kim informed us the other day “someone has to pay for this” – and she’s right but with every other Company defective equipment isn’t something a customer gets a bill for and something tells me that the defective meter that was on our home has already been shipped back to the supplier and a new replacement – gratis – has already been provided to them. So, we’ll see where we sit come Friday – any bets as to whether Kim calls us back by then? I bet no and wager $2945!
New Blog for my Shared Reviews – reviews
Now, on to less frustrating news – I began the development of yet another blog the other day – this one is attached to all of my reviews that are housed on SharedReviews.com. It’s still early in the development stage but I’ll put the link here anyway – just in case someone wants to take a peak. I write product reviews for this site and the reason for the blog is to make it a 1-stop voting process for those members who vote on reviews there. If you haven’t heard of SharedReviews why not stop by…you can locate info on all kinds of products, get feedback from those who have used them and never know, might help you with a purchasing decision at some point.
Odds n Ends
I completed a chain maille bracelet and finished a Bonsai pendant but trying to get my daughter to snap a few pictures has been a little bit of an endeavor…if I knew where she kept her camera I’d be all set but I’m not a parent who goes into my children’s rooms when they aren’t home so snooping is out for me.
I’m considering setting up a store on ArtFire.com – they have a pretty good deal going right now, just $7 a month for your store front and no listing fees, etc. You might want to check it out if you’ve been considering getting an E-store operating. They also have a FREE service, again no fees – looks promising.
Now, I’m off to be taxi again – seems my daughter’s friend found herself at the hospital early this morning. She’s fine, although she suffers from stomach ulcers and we all know that St. Paddy’s day helpings of green beer on an ulcerated stomach will just not do a body good!
So, that’s it for the moment, I’ll be trying to get additional posts up as I have some new info on Beading, design contests and so forth – but for now, I’m off…have a great day and if you’ve read this – thanks 
Akaiya
