8 Days and Counting.
By Spike Bowan
©FrogDogWriting 2014
We have had a fair amount of freezing weather here in Pittsburgh, PA over the last few weeks. Not since the blizzard of 1993 can I remember such harsh temperatures dropping to -12 degrees Fahrenheit or even colder. So much for Global Warming Mr. Gore, you need to return your Nobel Prize. Just saying.
Throughout this “heat wave” the pipes in my house froze. Or so I thought. I tried all the tricks, heat tape, placing a heater near the water meter; you name it, I tried it. after a few days we called a plumber. The gentleman comes and hooks up a small arc welder to my water line and the stem at the end of my driveway. The arc welder ran for over 6 hours. NOTHING. The next day , we had an actual Welder come out, he had a bigger welder, 2-4 hours later nothing.
While this is all going on, I have already burned through over 50 gallons of water that I had stocked and I am bathing out of the sink with boiled water that I melted down from snow. The “wonderful” and “oh so helpful people” at American Water have started the illustrious Red Tape Run Around with us. We had been promised for 3 days that they would send someone out to fix our water. Nothing.
On the 3rd day I finally get a hold of one of their External affairs persons, and I go off. The person was annoyingly professional, until I mention the Media, and that I am calling the news stations. Now , I get someone to come out along with a Myriad of apologies stating that ,”we have never encountered situations like these before with so many lines being frozen” and “we only have one Arc Welder in the region so we had to outsource calls to a 3rd party contractor”
Really? We’re in PENNSYLVANIA! It’s not Arizona, or Florida… We have cold weather up here. You would think that a UTILITIES COMPANY servicing over 390 communities would be better prepared for their lines to freeze. The contractor shows up 6 hours later, AND ALL THEY DID WAS THE SAME DAMN THING! THEY HOOKED UP AN ARC WELDER AND RAN IT THROUGH MY LINE!
There’s no water in the damn thing! We’re not even getting steam out of the stem at the driveway! You’d think that a plumber and a welder couldn’t fix it, that the problem is ON YOUR OWN DAMN MAIN WATER LINE! Nope, they just hook up the welder and run it again. This is the 3rd time in 3 days that this has been done.
Finally, they give up and say that the water company is going to have to dig up the line and replace it. “When can I expect them?” I ask. The man looks at me and laughs when he says “probably by the time the weather gets warmer and the line thaws on it’s own.”
THE SON OF A BITCH LAUGHED! I have a 4 year old son, we need water! Since then, it has been a daily battle with American Water, with empty promises and lies. One lady my wife had been talking to said she was a supervisor. We find out from another “customer service” rep, that that lady is not a supervisor! Another lady, said “that we should feel privileged that the American Water is providing this complimentary service to us”!
PRIVELEGED? I HAVE NO WATER IN MY HOUSE YOU HAG! HOW DARE YOU!
8 DAYS NOW! No water, bird baths in the sink having to buy bottled water. I thought I was prepared for an event, I was wrong.
I am doing the only thing I can think of as a last resort. My BLOG, we reach over 2 million people with this BLOG. I write this to tell you a few things.
1- Be Prepared – family of 3 +2 dogs burns through water FAST!
2-Cold weather, make sure your taps are dripping. Running water is harder to freeze
3-Big Corporate Utilities Companies SUCK!
Thanks for reading. Oh, and to American Water….We filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Utilities Commission and I am still calling all of the News Channels. Not a threat, this is a Promise!
Now if you will excuse me, I have to go boil water so I can give my son a bath.
God Bless III%