GAS METER UPDATE: In a previous post I lamented about the excruciatingly long process to have a new gas meter and a new gas line installed. Con Edison, our local utility company, first visited our site  on August 20, 2013. At that time, we were under the impression that getting new service was the only option we had; it was the required protocol during a home elevation project on an older home with a gas line made of steel.

BURN, BABY, BURN: We had been repeatedly warned that we were at the mercy of this massive utility conglomerate and that they were reputed to move at a snail’s pace. So when we received a follow-up letter in less than a week, we were surprised with the speed of the deed. Maybe we would be the exception and not the rule. But, alas, that was a naive pipe dream. The letter informed us of a projected completion date of (insert drum roll here):  March 30, 2014. That’s right, 7 MONTHS from now. As I mentioned previously, moving back into our house is contingent on this task being completed.

WE HEAR YOU: It was with great resolve that I next contacted the utility company, outlining my argument for why I believed this time frame was unjust. Our project was a retrofit for flood mitigation, an action encouraged by the utility company, not a new service. Plus our three children are impacted by this decision, which tends to help a homeowner jump the line a bit. They saw my point and empathized with my plight stating that they would try their best to move our project along. After several days of persistent calling, with mixed results and responses from whomever I spoke to that day, we were told that it would “likely work out”, but they could make no promises. Maybe it’s me, but those words did little to mollify my concerns.

ARE WE STILL IN AMERICA? By the end of the month and many phone calls later – the squeaky wheel gets the grease when you’re talking about a company with millions of customers – we had some promising news. Our project had moved from the engineering department over to the construction department, a feat that usually takes 30 days. To officially get in the queue of their construction line-up, we just had to make a payment –  of several thousand dollars – that did NOT  include the digging of a trench.

To be continued …