Oooh, that sucks. But DirecTV is good for NFL games, that's for sure.

I know I've temporarily not had a few stations on occasion because of disputes, but CBS? That's hardcore.

Time Warner has been talking shit about them for weeks now, leading up to this. I don't think I watch anything on there in the summer--::searches for Under The Dome:: ::shrugs::

Does this sound right: my electric company has an issue with actually reading my meter, so they over/under charge me regularly, and have to keep adjusting my bills whenever they do actually read my meter. After one winter, I didn't have to pay my electric bill for almost five months with the credit I'd accrued.

This time I got a letter from some other company saying they'd absconded with my overcharge and that I had to write back to them to lay claim to my overcharge or else it would be given to the state.

This sounds like a scam, but I'm afraid it's legit. If it's legit, now I have to wait to get hundreds of dollars back, meanwhile, electric company keeps overestimating me and demanding high payments. Payback to me is long time coming, payout to electric company is needed immediately so my lights don't get turned off. And I don't have the kind of finances that can handle both!

Can you sign up to read your own meter? My company allows that.They still read and adjust but the variation would not be as big. Alternately, do hey have a budget plan where they estimate for the year and charge you the same each month?

And did you ask the electric company if this other company is a real thing?

yeah, I have to call them, again, and work something out. Because even if I switch providers, it'll be subcontractors who take the readings from the same company.

But, seriously, how can a company come in, take money overpaid by me from a company overestimating my bills, and then threaten to keep it like I'm the one paying penalties for being overcharged?

So the Md bar is taking place at the convention center. At the same time as BronyCon. Stressed out baby lawyers and cosplay. Whee!

Can you call your local utility regulators to find out if they are allowed to do this? And if they are, or even if they are not call your local papers and local news and talk shows. Get them some bad publicity.

It smells like kerosene in my apartment. My stove is definitely off, and I don't think it's quite gas smell, anyway. What to do?

Edit: I have decided to leave the windows open and generally trust the CO detector.

I'm trying to think of what else smells like kero. Regular gas, nsm. Natural gas doesn't actually smell like much, they add something akin to skunk to it. Are there renovations going on in your building? If someone is using a solvent, that could be it. Or if someone is burning torches/cintronella candles outside?