i ain't afraid of no ghost.
Monday, November 12, 2018
it's actually going to be closer to $30 in service charges.
there's a fixed rate of $26.94. so, even if i don't use any electricity at all, i still have to pay $27. then, they charge $0.0174/kwh - which is no doubt the actual cost. that $27 is just theft.
but, on 75 kwh, i'd be paying 26.94 + 0.0174*75 = $28.25 on service fees, on what is a $5-6 dollar electrical bill. so, it's going to come to around $35, after the taxes cancel out.
that means i'm looking at saving something more like $10-15 a month, rather than $25 a month, and it might take all year to balance it out.
but, it still doesn't make sense to pay the bill. if anything, it makes less sense to pay the bill, because i'm just paying exorbitant service fees.
there's a fixed rate of $26.94. so, even if i don't use any electricity at all, i still have to pay $27. then, they charge $0.0174/kwh - which is no doubt the actual cost. that $27 is just theft.
but, on 75 kwh, i'd be paying 26.94 + 0.0174*75 = $28.25 on service fees, on what is a $5-6 dollar electrical bill. so, it's going to come to around $35, after the taxes cancel out.
that means i'm looking at saving something more like $10-15 a month, rather than $25 a month, and it might take all year to balance it out.
but, it still doesn't make sense to pay the bill. if anything, it makes less sense to pay the bill, because i'm just paying exorbitant service fees.
presuming that $270 credit is truly lost, i just want to work out the logic in not paying the bill - or why paying the bill doesn't make any sense.
suppose i pay the bill in full, tomorrow, and that i'm able to cut my usage down to around 2-3 kwh for the next few months by just closing the lid on the laptop when i'm not using it. 2.5*30 = 75 kwh, which is going to be some like $5.00 in actual electricity. but, then they're going to charge me $15 in service charges, so the bill will be around $20. the credit is $45, so i'd be building up $25/month.
if that works itself out, i'll have a credit of $25 for november, $50 for december, $75 for january, $100 for february, etc. but, what i've learned is that i can't access this money, so it will just continue to build. i made $270 in credits over ten months in the last apartment - after paying down the first bill.
if i don't pay the bill, i'm going to be down $47 for september ($30 setup...) and i'm going to be looking at around a $60 bill for october, minus the $20. let's say it's $100, even, together. but, that will $75 when the bill gets calculated for november, $50 for december, $25 for january and then breaks even when the bill gets calculated for february, some time in mid march.
you could say "that's a long wait. just pay the $100.", but you're missing the point - i can't do anything with that money, otherwise.
now, if i have access to the other credit, then that's different. i can take the $270 and use it to pay the difference off right away. but, if i don't, i'm just throwing away $100 for no discernible reason.
it's not clear why the province designed the system they way it did, other than hoping that most people wouldn't know about it and wouldn't apply. but, i think you need to blame them, and not me, as they designed the system in such a way that incentivizes me to miss payments.
i'll call them tomorrow to get a straight answer.
suppose i pay the bill in full, tomorrow, and that i'm able to cut my usage down to around 2-3 kwh for the next few months by just closing the lid on the laptop when i'm not using it. 2.5*30 = 75 kwh, which is going to be some like $5.00 in actual electricity. but, then they're going to charge me $15 in service charges, so the bill will be around $20. the credit is $45, so i'd be building up $25/month.
if that works itself out, i'll have a credit of $25 for november, $50 for december, $75 for january, $100 for february, etc. but, what i've learned is that i can't access this money, so it will just continue to build. i made $270 in credits over ten months in the last apartment - after paying down the first bill.
if i don't pay the bill, i'm going to be down $47 for september ($30 setup...) and i'm going to be looking at around a $60 bill for october, minus the $20. let's say it's $100, even, together. but, that will $75 when the bill gets calculated for november, $50 for december, $25 for january and then breaks even when the bill gets calculated for february, some time in mid march.
you could say "that's a long wait. just pay the $100.", but you're missing the point - i can't do anything with that money, otherwise.
now, if i have access to the other credit, then that's different. i can take the $270 and use it to pay the difference off right away. but, if i don't, i'm just throwing away $100 for no discernible reason.
it's not clear why the province designed the system they way it did, other than hoping that most people wouldn't know about it and wouldn't apply. but, i think you need to blame them, and not me, as they designed the system in such a way that incentivizes me to miss payments.
i'll call them tomorrow to get a straight answer.
checking the electricity usage from last week, i've figured out the following:
both halogen type j bathroom lights - 0.24
just 100 W - .11
just 150 W - 0.13-0.15
*just fan - 0.1
fan + grow lamp - 0.24
fan + led - .06
both kitchen spotlights - 0.04
just halogen kitchen spotlight. - 0.04
led kitchen spotlight < 0.01
two kitchen leds - .02
inside hallway (two halogens, 1 led) - .10
*given that the led is negligible, i must have had something else interfering with the fan,initially. later testing seems to uphold the second reading, indicating the fan alone was probably half the initial reading.
since fixing the lights in the bathroom, my usage has fallen back to more normal levels, which is around 3.5-4.0 kwh. that should give me a monthly bill around $30.
so, what am i going to do? am i going to pay this thing?
well, i'm guessing the bill is going to be around $60 in total, and that i should get about $20 on the rebate, indicating it should be around $40. but, that amount is entirely in fees.
likewise, the first bill only used about $7 in electricity, and the rebate would have covered it, but it's $47 due to service fees.
i've done this analysis before. the problem is not that the cost of electricity is high, it's that the utility company is adding on service fees and gauging customers for no apparent reason.
if i don't pay the bill before wednesday, i'm going to have something like $100 owing, and it's all going to be in service fees. i'll have paid the cost of the actual electricity. this is really ridiculous.
i'm considering paying for the setup fee and letting the oesp catch up ojn the rest, which i'll be able todo by being extra careful with the laptop. even if the laptop is only running around .07, which is probably a little low, that's still 1.68 a day, which is about 45-50% of the daily total. if i can cut that by a third for the first couple of months, it should help me catch up.
i just don't want to reward then for the service charges. rather, i want to cut usage to compensate for them.
both halogen type j bathroom lights - 0.24
just 100 W - .11
just 150 W - 0.13-0.15
*just fan - 0.1
fan + grow lamp - 0.24
fan + led - .06
both kitchen spotlights - 0.04
just halogen kitchen spotlight. - 0.04
led kitchen spotlight < 0.01
two kitchen leds - .02
inside hallway (two halogens, 1 led) - .10
*given that the led is negligible, i must have had something else interfering with the fan,initially. later testing seems to uphold the second reading, indicating the fan alone was probably half the initial reading.
since fixing the lights in the bathroom, my usage has fallen back to more normal levels, which is around 3.5-4.0 kwh. that should give me a monthly bill around $30.
so, what am i going to do? am i going to pay this thing?
well, i'm guessing the bill is going to be around $60 in total, and that i should get about $20 on the rebate, indicating it should be around $40. but, that amount is entirely in fees.
likewise, the first bill only used about $7 in electricity, and the rebate would have covered it, but it's $47 due to service fees.
i've done this analysis before. the problem is not that the cost of electricity is high, it's that the utility company is adding on service fees and gauging customers for no apparent reason.
if i don't pay the bill before wednesday, i'm going to have something like $100 owing, and it's all going to be in service fees. i'll have paid the cost of the actual electricity. this is really ridiculous.
i'm considering paying for the setup fee and letting the oesp catch up ojn the rest, which i'll be able todo by being extra careful with the laptop. even if the laptop is only running around .07, which is probably a little low, that's still 1.68 a day, which is about 45-50% of the daily total. if i can cut that by a third for the first couple of months, it should help me catch up.
i just don't want to reward then for the service charges. rather, i want to cut usage to compensate for them.
i will say this, though - given that marijuana is now legal in both michigan and ontario, it is plausible that i may have smoked my last cigarette, ever.
i'm sure i'll probably smoke a joint again at some time in the future, and i'm sure i'll probably have a beer again, some day. but, i'm not sure i'll ever smoke another cigarette, and would be just as happy if i never do.
i'm sure i'll probably smoke a joint again at some time in the future, and i'm sure i'll probably have a beer again, some day. but, i'm not sure i'll ever smoke another cigarette, and would be just as happy if i never do.
i was hoping to get through september by the end of the weekend, but i lost most of saturday to a systematic link update over the review site and i've spent most of the last 12 hours sleeping. i hadn't really slept since thursday afternoon, so i guess i was catching up.
i'm beginning to conclude that the remaining smoky smell in here is a combination of dry air and dust. i might change my mind, still. i mean, it's certainly making me cough and irritating my throat and nose, but, since i finished the laundry last week, the only thing i've been able to really tie it to is the heaters. the heat gradient (it's below freezing.) right now should be defining negative pressure, so i shouldn't really be getting pollution from outside, although it does seem to be a continuing annoyance.
i'm going to hope that the dust comes down as the place is put in order. it will probably never go away entirely, but hopefully it gets a lot better. and, i'm just going to have to get used to drinking a lot of water to offset the extreme aridity.
is there still some chance that somebody is smoking upstairs? i can't rule it out. but, if that's a part of the problem, it doesn't seem to be the totality of it. i'm more concerned about the pollution in the neighbourhood, right now, even if somebody is up there smoking. i'm going to have to find a way to seal the windows up.
the immediate solution is to drink more water - a lot more water.
i'm going to get through a bit more this morning, stopping before i get to the major vlog from the night that i may have been roofied, and woke up in some stranger's car. but, i need to put it aside for the day, at least - and i might not get back to it until thursday.
i'm beginning to conclude that the remaining smoky smell in here is a combination of dry air and dust. i might change my mind, still. i mean, it's certainly making me cough and irritating my throat and nose, but, since i finished the laundry last week, the only thing i've been able to really tie it to is the heaters. the heat gradient (it's below freezing.) right now should be defining negative pressure, so i shouldn't really be getting pollution from outside, although it does seem to be a continuing annoyance.
i'm going to hope that the dust comes down as the place is put in order. it will probably never go away entirely, but hopefully it gets a lot better. and, i'm just going to have to get used to drinking a lot of water to offset the extreme aridity.
is there still some chance that somebody is smoking upstairs? i can't rule it out. but, if that's a part of the problem, it doesn't seem to be the totality of it. i'm more concerned about the pollution in the neighbourhood, right now, even if somebody is up there smoking. i'm going to have to find a way to seal the windows up.
the immediate solution is to drink more water - a lot more water.
i'm going to get through a bit more this morning, stopping before i get to the major vlog from the night that i may have been roofied, and woke up in some stranger's car. but, i need to put it aside for the day, at least - and i might not get back to it until thursday.
another thing that people don't realize (and i had no idea, either, until i looked into it) is that the leading cause of homelessness amongst youth is not addiction or mental illness but....
homosexuality.
that's the sad truth: a very strong plurality of the kids you see on the street were kicked out of their homes for the crime of being queer. it follows that addressing attitudes around this very specific issue should cut homelessness rates by nearly 50%, and also that the shelters should be organizing themselves around the very specific issue of dealing with queer youths.
but, you have to take the time to figure that out before you realize it.
homosexuality.
that's the sad truth: a very strong plurality of the kids you see on the street were kicked out of their homes for the crime of being queer. it follows that addressing attitudes around this very specific issue should cut homelessness rates by nearly 50%, and also that the shelters should be organizing themselves around the very specific issue of dealing with queer youths.
but, you have to take the time to figure that out before you realize it.
the comment about staying in school was unfortunately ignorant, enough that this idiot should probably get fired, as the people getting hit by this are mostly dealing with mental or physical disabilities.
but, it's encouraging to see the right narrative being presented.
https://windsor.ctvnews.ca/lack-of-affordable-housing-blamed-for-windsor-s-homelessness-1.4082229
but, it's encouraging to see the right narrative being presented.
https://windsor.ctvnews.ca/lack-of-affordable-housing-blamed-for-windsor-s-homelessness-1.4082229
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