Musings from Brian J. Noggle

I Hate It When That Happens

Fark links to a story in the Fond du Lac Reporter about a woman whose water was cut off because a faulty meter underreported water usage for her late mother. It's a pretty sad story, but what's even sadder is the way the story sort of changes themes in the middle:

t was no April Fool?s joke when the tap went dry Thursday for a Fond du Lac woman who was left to pay a $1,200 water bill for her deceased mother.

Sonja A. Terry, said neither she nor her late mother, Maria Wittig, had an idea the utility bills were drastically less than they should have been. The problem with an outside meter was discovered only after Terry?s mother died in June 2003 and water utility officials cross-checked what they call the ?actual? meter in the basement at 120 E. Second St.

Wittig had requested and purchased the outdoor meter so the reading could be taken outside her home. The outdoor meter had slowed drastically and may not have been working at all.

Terry agreed in December to pay $50 a month toward the $1,200 bill. When she failed to make the two initial payments, her water was shut off.

?I turned the faucet on and nothing came out,? Terry recalled.

Early last week, she was given another shut-off notice due to two more consecutive months of non-payment. The water was shut off Thursday. She agreed to pay $100 and the water was turned on a short time later.

?I can?t make those (extra payments),? Terry said. ?They?re putting it on my regular (utility) bill.?

Terry said her most recent regular utility bill was $242. Another $150 was added to the bill ($50 repayment schedule for each of three months), bringing the total to nearly $400 for the quarter.

Before the error at the meter was discovered, Terry said her mother?s bill was $53. The amount is the monthly charge for vacant residences, according to water utility staff. The amount suggests that the outdoor meter wasn?t functioning at all.

?I hate doing this,? Fond du Lac Water Superintendent Dale Paczkowski said. ?I don?t like it. (And) it?s time consuming for us to be putting (shut-off) notices on the door and sending letters.?

Paczkowski said the water was used ? it ran through the actual meter.

?I agreed (in December) to $50, which I cannot do,? Terry said. ?I thought I could (pay $50 per month toward the debt), and I had my back surgery, and I lieves headache and eases insomnia. It can be applied full strength to burns, rashes or psoriasis.

Lavender is a ?must-have? in the home, Vores said.

n Lemon increases optimism and sense of humor, helps calm fear and increase memory, according to Vores? list of essential oil uses. In very dilute solution (1 or 2 percent) it is good for acne, he said.

n Peppermint is a mental stimulant, relieves headache and anxiety. It is good for congested sinuses and digestion as well as emotions.

n Tea tree oil builds strength before surgery, says a list of oils Vores? has compiled. It?s a strong antiseptic that stimulates immunity.

Vores describes essential oils as the ?lifeblood? of a plant, the part that is fragrant. ?Pure? oil comes from a single source.

It's some sort of content error, but it's always interesting to note how far you go before you realize you've missed something.

Sometimes, when I am reading a particularly hard to follow text, I have been known to skip pages when the last words of one page and the first words of the page two pages ahead mesh in a manner no more confusing than the rest of the work. When reading, I admit I don't slow down and understand each sentence or paragraph before moving on; I tend to gather the grasp of the whole, which is why I keep reading stuff I don't understand as I am reading it. I expect to pick it up from context. As I have a philosophy degree, rest assured I have run into the situation where I accidentally skip a page and don't immediately know it many times while contending with works of on the order of Heidegger, Sartre, Dostoyevsky, and others.

P.S. I didn't get to the whole next paragraph in the above piece, unlike some works.

- posted by Brian J. @ 6:47 PM