Last night, Britta and I returned home to Missouri. Before we left for Minnesota we turned down our heater and so we expected to return to a chilly house.
Oh, boy. Was it chilly.
In sifting through our mail, Britta discovered a note from our local gas company which told us they had turned off our gas on Tuesday.
We weren't too bothered by that, and I'll tell you why:
When we moved into our house in late July, we called the city to have our water turned on. No problem.
We called the power company to have the account set in our name. No problem.
We called to set up internet service for Britta's work. No problem.
We called the gas company to have the account set in our name. Here's a transcript of the conversation:
Me: Hi. My wife and I just moved in and need to set up an account for our gas service.
ATMOS Energy: No problem. I'll just look up the current account. What is your address? (I give them our address). . . Okay. Well I'm not showing that we have any gas service going to that address which means that there is probably no hook-up to worry about.
Me: So, there is no gas line here?
A: Nope.
Me: So our heater is not gas? (btw: our water heater was electric and there was not a visible pilot light or gas line to our heater that I noticed at the time)
A: No. It could be electric.
Me: One less thing to worry about.
A: One less thing to worry about. Can I help you with anything else?
Me: Why would you ask that question if you knew we didn't have a gas line? Weirdo.
Okay, that is just about verbatim. Except that last line, which was really, "Nope. Bye".
Turns out that our heater was gas. Turns out we never set up an account. Turns out that the coldest week of the year was this week. Turns out our house was just above freezing last night.
So when Britta and I investigate further, I discover a gas line to to the heater hidden behind it and wedged between it and the wall. I pull off the panel and: no pilot light.
No heat
We called about eight friends/various leadership in our ward. No answers. We called one more and asked for a space heater. Luckily, he had two. With our oven on and two space heaters going, we bundled up in about five layers of clothing and three blankets (including our down comforter) and made it through the night.
The gas guy is coming back today.
I can't wait to have a warm home again.
Ah, the lessons I have learned (i.e. never trust customer service reps; OF COURSE it is a gas heater!!) and the story we now have to tell our children.
This is what makes marriages sweet.
7 comments:
I'm glad you two are so positive. What a way to spend the night, all bundled up and close together. Ever hear from the other BYU 65th freshman ward couple?
Wow!what a run-around!I'm so glad that you two are alright.Those kind of experiences are what make life intesting. Is someone trying to deter you from school?
my question is: why didn't the guy with the space heaters invite you to stay at their home?
hope you're warm tonight though.
one more question: do you have back pay for the months you didn't pay?
Sounds like an unplanned campout! Glad you made it through the night. Utah hasn't seemed to be cold for a while, I'm hoping we get some snow in the valley for a white Christmas but it doesn't seem too promising at the moment.
We were invited to spend the night at the home of the man who lent to us his space heaters . . . but we were excited to sleep in our own bed. It was fun. The heat is on, now.
Oh dear, I hope you have lots of nice heat now! Although I wish we didn't have to use the heater so much--it's drying out my hands, and my thumbs and knuckles are starting to crack and bleed already. But at least we have heat!
That reminds me of when we moved into our house, we set up everything but the water. So, about two weeks after we moved in, the water guy came over, turned off our water, and left without even a note. All of our neighbors thought we couldn't afford our $10 water bill.....good times.
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