“Maybe you had to leave in order to really miss a place; maybe you had to travel to figure out how beloved your starting point was.”  ―  Jodi Picoult, Handle with Care

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I’m almost at the end of my ordeal, which is good because I’m almost at the end of my rope.  It has been 11 days since I have been out of my house due to a horrible wind storm bringing down my power lines.  The work has been done to reconnect the panel and bury my new hydro lines, but I am now waiting on the administrative portion of the process to ensue before I can have power restored and finally move back into my house.  I don’t care if it looks like this when I return – I just want to go home.

The process, from start to almost finish, has been a real experience.  (It was difficult to type that last sentence without using some really good expletives.)  Although my electrician has explained to my insurance company the value of burying the new wires underground to alleviate any more claims in the future, the insurance company will only cover the dollar value of replacing the existing above-ground power supply.  $$

Because HydroOne insisted on have a schematic of the trench where the lines would be buried (which was veritably a straight line) this delayed the process by 5 days and I had to remove and dispose of the contents of my fridge and freezer.  $$

After a call to HydroOne this morning to find out when they could restore my power, I was sent a contract (with the wrong name and address, mind you) and was told that I now have to pay them $325.00 before they will even come to my house to restore power because I upgraded my equipment.  $$  I have had several people do work at my house and I don’t recall EVER paying those contractors until the job was completed.

After lowering my blood pressure and after the anger subsided, I could still feel a pang of unrest in my stomach.  That familiar feeling I had as a child had reared its head again and I felt homesick.  Send me the fucking bill, with my name on it this time, get some employees out to my house and please turn my power back on.  I just want to go home.