hey! all you electricians out there; I NEED YOUR HELP!

ok, if you know me, then you know that i have had a problem with my power company. they are investigating my power consumption (which has always been high because of all my appliances) and they installed a new meter the other day.

they didnt ask me if they can do this, they hit my dog on the head with something, and supposedly are monitoring our power consumption.

can they do that? can they realy monitor my power, like how much is being used at what times and such? can they see a 400w increase for 18 or 12 hours?

i have plans to hurt these guys like they did my dog :rambo:; but, i need to know if it is safe to grow. i'll be using 600w max, with everything running, much smaller this time. 18/6 for veg, then 12/12. if they can see the power along and along, then they can see that there is 400w on a timer... i'm concerned...

please guys, let me know. this is very very important!

thanx!

Sky :abduct:

If they want to pay close attention, yes, they can see spikes in power consumption.
Startup of a magnetic ballast creates a spike... if they want to be pricks and get on your case, I'm sure it wouldn't bee to hard for them to see it. I do not know if they can do it remotely or if they have to hang out and stare at your meter.
But just a 400? hm. What about an electronic ballast that doesn't have that spike, and keep a couple space heaters on a timer and say that you run them 12 hours a day, at night, to keep your ass WARM, and to fuck off?
As for the dog... WTF! You could really start a shit storm with that one.... depends how much you want to do battle... drop a line to the local humane society, lol! Get pics and documentation from your vet before the little dude has a chance to heal at all.

oh and edit, I would say to answer the final Q, no, it's not safe to grow atm. You might have to take that show on the road. Got a safe friend to watch the girls for a couple months?

well, i fortunately found out about all of this a couple of weeks ago. i lost several killer strains, because i had no babysitter atm. i harvested all my plants early (rrrrrrr) and have everything out.

as far as spikes, my 400w's are magnetic; my 1000w is not. also, i have five geckos with day lights and heat lights and a heater and an ac on timers for them, very state of the art (didn't have any other ideas for the timers :D) and my power consumption is actually higher now that i'm not growing and conserving power. probably because i'm heating with a heater now, instead of using ballast and lamp heat. my 1000w heated two bedrooms, the 1500w heaters heat one...

i have pictures of my dog, she doesn't look bad, but has an enormous lump on her head, and a small scab. she's ok, shepherds are quite hardy... but i'm very very pissed about it. i've been thinking of taking a giant magnet to the meter, and letting all of my dogs run. when they come back, the dogs will rip them apart (they pack when they're all out, no stopping them)

mainly though, the power thing is not from my grow op. it's from two stoves, three refridgerators, one freezer, and several heaters and ac's (no centralized anything :()

so, if i can in any way convince them to leave us alone, i'd love to do so. any suggestions?

also, do you think a law suet is in order? violation of privacy, conspiracy, harrassment, and animal mistreatment/personal damages?


i'm realy realy realy upset about this. these bastards have fucked with the wrong girl.

thanx foxy, i realy appreciate your help :)

Sky

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Originally Posted by Scarlet Sky

i've been thinking of taking a giant magnet to the meter, and letting all of my dogs run. when they come back, the dogs will rip them apart (they pack when they're all out, no stopping them)

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WTF, seriously this is the kind of thing I TEAR APART nOObs for suggesting... Physically harm the meter maintenance guys? They just work for the power company...they are doing a job and going home at 5pm to take care of their families... they get a work order in hand and go deal with it. That does not sound like the response of a mature woman.

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Originally Posted by Scarlet Sky

also, do you think a law suet is in order? violation of privacy, conspiracy, harrassment, and animal mistreatment/personal damages?

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Well if you let your dogs out, the lawsuit's gonna be on YOU.

Look, sometimes in life you just have to suck it up and do things within the confines of the law. Go ahead and talk to an attorney if you like. I highly recommend for any serious grower to do a little research and find a good attorney with related experience BEFORE you get raided! I keep one on speed dial. When I have questions like this, I can just call him up. It is worth every penny.

You came under investigation after you applied for aid, is that correct? You asked them for something and in doing so drew attention to yourself. The smoother this all goes, the better... just argue with them that you have the right to keep pet reptiles if you like, that's it. The dog issue, call the humane society or whatever and find out how to lodge a formal complaint, because THAT needs to be done, but beyond that, one of the biggest rules of growing is :

DON'T MAKE WAVES.

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Originally Posted by stinkyattic

WTF, seriously this is the kind of thing I TEAR APART nOObs for suggesting... Physically harm the meter maintenance guys?

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i live in a small town type of area. the meter guy is the same guy who's been coming for three and a half years. my yard is completely fenced in, and i have a total of twenty warning signs up. they've been up since we first moved in. there is a note on the gate for people to ring the bell, but do not enter the gate.

this guy that's been coming around was busted kicking my dog after we first moved in. why? because she was barking at him. she was on a lead, and he walked all the way through the yard to kick her. after that, the power company sent out another meter guy to install a remote meter that they can scan from the drive way.

this guy is still the one who checks the meter. i can only assume that his sorry ass is the one who hit my dog on the head.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stinkyattic

That does not sound like the response of a mature woman.

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i know. i'm mostly venting; and i'm going through emotional hell right now (just went back on friggin antidep's) so please see through the bs, and understand that i don't realy mean it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stinkyattic

You came under investigation after you applied for aid, is that correct? You asked them for something and in doing so drew attention to yourself.

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yep. i didn't know that they would put in a spy meter though... i have the lizards' lights on 16/8, and the heat and ac on 12/12. i'm hoping (not realy :p) that they do raid me, as the house is clean. then they can look like fools... but, i'm still trying to find out if they actualy can see the power from a different location. the meter doesnt' look any different from the last one, and there are no phone lines coming out of it, no antenna...what i'm wondering is if they just replaced the meter incase the other was faulty. they told me they thought i had a bad meter...

but still, the ass didn't have to hit my dog. my brother was home, and would have called her in if the guy had just rang the damn bell.

once again. forgive my morbid sense of humor, and understand that i'm as responsible now as i always have been, i'm just taking pills instead of smoking med. makes for a different 'tude at times....

thanx stinky, i have filed a complaint, they said they would investigate it. probably call the power company and ask about it. (small hick town; humane society is the cruelest of all around here)

i also plan on talking to the meter guy personally. i'm going to inform him that i'm installing a surveilance camera because someone came into my yard and attacked my dog. if he hears anything...:p

electricians, please tell me if there is a radio meter or something that they can spy on me with; searches are leading me in the wrong direction...:(

As a matter of fact modern meters, if I am not mistaken, are readable electronically.

I have not seen the meter reader get out of the truck in YEARS. Gas meter either. I believe there is a transmitter in the new ones that they just have to drive around and get in the range of signals of the meters they want to check up on.

Allowing a raid is not an entirely bad idea (well my attorney would say otherwise!) lol, believe me, when I bailed, I was thinking to myself, lol, come and get me, Big Brother!

You gotta do what you gotta do.

Surveillance camera?
That would sketch them out even more... someone applying for utilities aid and then turning around and spending all that dough on a security system? I priced them out...it's not pretty.

Hey Scarlet I understand ur frustation with a holes not minding there bussiness I will try to find out on my end on how accurate those digital meters are babes........:)

lol, i have a cam, have had it for years (not sure if it still works...) but, lol, that's more bs. you gotta love my humor girl ;)

i know what you're talking about with the remote meters; that's what they put in here when the first incident happened (prior to that, we were still dino-tech). that way, the guy didn't even have to come in the yard, he just needed to pull in the drive. so i'm wondering if this new meter is a new kind, that can send a signal directly to the power company, or if it merely a replacement of what was there before. if it's the same, i realy have nothing to worry about; my grow uses less power than not having one (weird, i know...) and i'm paying the bill no prob now. and, i don't see us having a problem paying it in the future, as it's getting warmer now, and the tourist season is about to begin. i'll be working more than i can stand in a couple of weeks.

heh, you gotta admit though, the cam would probably make the meter guy shit a brick. he and i don't get along anyway, but his girlfriend and i do...;)

oh, and this may be a minor coincidence, or a major force of evil or something, but.... his name is.....

jeff :wtf:

me being an electrician and all...yes they can monitor your power consumption if they really want to take it that far. and with a remote meter...i wouldnt start an op...deffintely not now since you filed the complaint about your dog (which by the way is fucked up!). i would say wait for a while until everything settles because power companies are vigilant and will stop at nothing if you want to make waves with them...but usually all they care about is getting their money. if you pay your bill on time and dont cause any problems for a while, it shouldnt be a problem...especially after they see all the machines that you are running along with your gecko habitat. best advice...dont make waves like stinky said and let them do their thing until it calms down...

and by fucked up, i meant that the asshole meter reader shouldnt have hit your dog! that could be animal cruelty...but if there is no evidence then its not really worth it...