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Monday 16th June 2003

I managed to lift myself out of my torpor, not enough to do any actual work, but I did get a lot of my niggly new house things sorted out. Most complicated amongst these was getting my gas supply fixed up. I’ve been trying to do this for a few weeks.
It’s not that I haven’t been getting gas, it’s just no-one seems to be supplying it to me. I had initially rung British Gas, who strangely supply my electricity and maintain my central heating equipment and do my burglar alarm, but they said they didn’t currently supply my gas. They’d taken their meter away in 1996. I would have to get in touch with Transco to find out who the current supplier was.
I rang Transco who told me that no-one was supplying my gas. “But I am connected to the gas. I have gas a plenty for all my summer heating needs,” I replied, but they couldn’t help me. This was a few weeks ago and I was busy and I was very much of the opinion that I had tried to sort out my gas and pay for it, but hadn’t been able to. Maybe I should just keep getting free gas (as apparently the people who lived here before me had done). At the very least I didn’t have time to spend hours on the phone sorting out something that wasn’t my fault.
So I left it til today and decided that I would rather pay for what I was using, rather than steal it, though partly because I could see a scenario in the future where someone found out and I sent to prison for stealing gas. Imagine how big a bag you’d need, though if you stole enough you would probably just fly off and be able to make good your escape.
I knew I’d get caught out eventually and probably end up paying for more gas than I’d used, plus all the gas that the previous occupants had (possibly) stolen too.
It was such a palaver to get British Gas to supply my gas that I almost wish I hadn’t bothered being honest. I was transferred from one department to the next until finally someone was able to make the arrangements. Even so it will be a couple of weeks before everything is sorted out.
So never mind this hot weather, I’m going to spend the next two weeks with all the radiators on to maximum and the hot water tank on all the live long day. So what if it is uncomfortable. It’s free. Free I tells ya.

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