A few weeks ago - the dogs barked with wild enthusiasm as I was drying my hair. This had to mean someone was at the door. By the time I got there, whomever it was was sitting in a truck in our driveway cataloging something. I opened the door, waved my hand to get his attention and this nice young man gets out to tell me that Avista is going to be replacing the power pole in our backyard. Technically, it's not in our back yard, but nicely tucked in between ours, the house next to us, and the house next to them. This cozy little triangle of houses with this pole right in the middle. He proceeds to tell me it would be sometime in the next few days. Again, this was almost two weeks ago.
What this means is this: - that off and on over the course of what he says is a 2 hour project (if you're talking about a normal pole on the side of the road) the power will be off. And on. And off. And on. So I spent the next couple of days heading to the club early enough that I could get home and cleaned up before they were going to mess with my ability to dry my hair.
Next up - at the end of last week, with still no Avista in sight, we receive a letter in the mail - FROM Avista, regarding another project in our area. AT OUR HOUSE. The letter states that in order to comply with the Washington Department of Transportation and the Utilities and Transportation Commission, it is necessary for Avista to perform some maintenance requirements next to our gas meter. "The work to be done will be at no charge to you and takes about 2 hours to complete. An Avista crew or our contractor may need to shut off the gas supply to your home and expose the gas valve at ground level. We may also lower the gas line that is underground all within 10 ft of the meter if necessary. Then an Avista gas serviceman will require access to your home to relight your appliances."
So YESTERDAY - while The Dad is home for lunch, an Avista truck pulls up, the man gets out, Jeff goes out to see which project this man is for. The man is here about the gas meter "project" and says it's actually a quick process, they have to change out a pipe... blah blah blah. Then they walk around to the side of the house the meter is on. And it goes a little something like this:
The Man: "Ohhhh..... huh."
The Dad: "What's that?"
The Man: "It's encased in concrete. In the steps there."
The Dad: "Yeh." <shrug>
The Man: "Yeh... uhhh... they're going to have to dig those up. They'll bring in a jackhammer, dig down..." blah blah blah.
WOTY: "A what? And my steps?"
The Dad: "He says they'll send someone out to redo the steps this spring."
WOTY: "Uh huh... Right about the time pigs learn how to fly, right?"
The Dad: "What do you want ME to do about it?"
WOTY: "Nothing. I'll dig out my "someone isn't going to want to talk to me" hat and make sure I have something in WRITING from Avista on this."
So the quick two hour project is now going to take the better part of an entire day - without my gas HEAT. In the middle of the effing WINTER?!?!? WTF are they thinking? This was "pissed me off" well and good - Part I.
Shortly after The Dad left to the construction site, to wear the hard hat he is so excited to put on once a week (that I threatened could be filled with lice, or dandruff or... something icky) I finished up the laundry and made myself get busy on some details of things we've been planning. It is at this time, while I'm sitting in front of my computer, that another small Avista truck pulls up slowly and I can tell he's trying to spy the power pole from where he stops and backs up and eyes the "situation". I watched as he got out of his car and trudged across our lawn between ours and our neighbors homes. I shot up, walked to the back of the house and watched him hike down between the two yards and fences and the ginormous landscaping rocks the neighbors have, coupled with our nearly new beautiful fence that we 1) built a foot inside our property lines on both sides and 2) specifically put a little angled section in so that this pole and anything they had to do to it, didn't have to be done from our yard. The neighbors on the other side of our direct neighbors have a lot of shrubbery landscaping their yard and there is one heckuva juniper from their yard to our neighbors rocks to our fence. It surrounds the pole. It is NOT going to be easy to dig a new hole and put in a new pole. It is NOT the 2 hour job I was told it will be. That much I know. ESPECIALLY because there is no route for them to get the pole into that spot in the first place.
I watch as he carefully plots his footing to head back up towards his vehicle and I speed back to my spot at the desk... Yes... I have time to do this sh*t. Instead of walking to his car, he drags his feet through the snow toward the front of the house and I'm thinking he's headed to our door. Nope... I leave the front door as he rounds the other side of our house and by the time I can get to the back door on the deck, he has shoved open the gate, dented the bottom (due to the weight of the snow up against it) and is a quarter of the way through my yard. I step out and this happens:
The other man: "I'm just hear to scout the pole."
B*tch from the house: "I know. But you see, the pole is not in our back yard."
The other man: "I know. But I have to mark for the gas and power." (As he proceeds to paint the snow on the ground by the pole red and orange)
B*tch from the house: "That paint doesn't have any toxins in it that could be harmful to my dogs, does it?"
The other man: "Uhhh. No. It should be fine."
B*tch from the house: "Not really sure why you're marking it on this side, the pole is clearly NOT in our yard."
The other man: "I know. I'm just sent out so scout this. I was here in the spring. They were supposed to do it then."
B*tch from the house: "Our grass wasn't marked in the spring. Sooo you must be thinking they're coming through MY yard to do this?"
The other man: "I really don't know."
I called The Dad shortly after this - told him about the fence and paint and WTF?
So he calls Avista who says they can do whatever they want in our back yard and it will happen this Friday - this is our notice. I didn't realize that Avista had part ownership of MY property that they can do whatever they want in MY back yard. The Dad asked the not so nice representative if it was normal practice to just enter the backyard for stuff like this and the response was "yes". The Dad said - "Well, if my dogs are out there, I'm certainly not going to be responsible for them biting whomever enters my backyard." To which the online phone representative said "Well, if we felt there was danger, we would THEN knock on the door." Really? Good to know. I see the dogs in the back yard on Friday.
So I'm taking pictures of BOTH sides of MY fence today - that apparently Avista can do whatever they want to it, since they can do whatever they WANT in MY backyard. And pictures of the steps they are going to jackhammer out and supposedly replace this spring. (Remember, they were SUPPOSED to replace the pole last spring, according to the scout). So that tells me the steps will be easily a good year out before they do it. IF they do it.
And I will stay home on Friday with my intermittent power for the 2 hour (no WAY it will be less than 6 given the location of the pole) project and keep watchful eye of my property.
Obviously someone EFFED up somewhere at Avista that these things need to be done in the dead of winter. Leaving several homes without either power or heat for the better part of a FEW days. Something just doesn't add up.
Oh... and Avista... it snowed again last night AND has since melted and your paint markings are no longer there. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.
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