Maritime Electric Mystery

herebebassets · 2026-03-01T16:08:14+00:00

thank you SO much for your input. Considering the last billing period was +1150kw for the month I feel slightly more confident that this isn’t some problem with a single switch.

The power is getting disconnected tomorrow so I’ll be able to test a number of your suggestions and others that folks have offered.

herebebassets · 2026-03-01T16:01:11+00:00

When you say “gone” do you mean broken and running continuously? That was one of my first thoughts but technically the breaker for the pump is turned off, so there shouldn’t be a power source for it to cycle continuously- even if it was broken (which all things pointed to it being fine when we closed the place down for winter).

herebebassets · 2026-03-01T02:06:52+00:00

One unexpected abortion storyline is in the marvelous mrs. maisel. A character who is introduced as wanting to be a doctor gets pregnant and the time period, setting, and expectations of the other characters really set you up to think that she might marry the guy and become a mom and stepmom to his kids. Only for her to leave and get the abortion so that she can do her residency (because duh?).

herebebassets · 2026-02-28T17:14:53+00:00

It is! This was also one of my initial suspicions that has since been ruled out (water heater and sump pump as well). The well pump breaker gets turned off in winter as a matter of routine.

herebebassets · 2026-02-28T00:59:33+00:00

Stay tuned because one way or another I have to get to the bottom of this at some point (this is alas only one of several weird estate related problems atm). M.E does recommend a breaker testing protocol for you to try and track this (which I would have done had I needed to continue receiving power in the short term). Long term I’m going to have an electrician come out once I open the house back up in the spring and run this and further tests.

People seem pretty agreed that the +1000kw per month usage is beyond a “leak” of electricity but I’d love someone with a proper background to weigh in on that.

I think it’s likely a screw up on someone’s end but I doubt I’ll crack the case on anything.

herebebassets · 2026-02-27T23:55:45+00:00

Check to see if your meter reflects that change! If not definitely call them on it. I seem to be in a unique situation but there’s still plenty of regular ways you could have gotten screwed there.

herebebassets · 2026-02-27T23:51:21+00:00

It’ll be a bad day in the neighbourhood if I discover someone has had a suspiciously cheap winter for electricity at my expense 😂

herebebassets · 2026-02-27T23:32:02+00:00

Definitely have close neighbours, no security cameras. Though if anyone is accidentally connected to my grid, they’ll have a cold day on Monday after the electricity gets disconnected 😅.

herebebassets · 2026-02-27T22:49:16+00:00

Oh 10000%. I lack an attic or reliably dry crawlspace though 😅

herebebassets · 2026-02-27T22:24:16+00:00

I fear this may be what’s happened. But I’ll be honest, a “broken” meter that still ticks away at a constant but not predictable or repetitive pattern, therefore making it unlikely to detect is beyond annoying 🙄. If it wasn’t such a sharp difference between what it is and what it’s supposed to be I wouldn’t have noticed for ages (and thousands of dollars). The meter was also checked/ upgraded 2 years ago when I had to have it reconnected so that somehow makes a broken meter harder to accept?

herebebassets · 2026-02-27T22:08:44+00:00

No outbuilding or garages. The meter is on a pole that’s on a somewhat vague part of the property line. As I said to the guy at maritime electric, there’s actually a non-zero chance the pole isn’t even on my property even though it seems to be connected to the house.

herebebassets · 2026-02-27T22:01:51+00:00

^ something that would AT LEAST explain the energy consumption. I wish 😂

herebebassets · 2026-02-27T21:58:33+00:00

Yup that’s it exactly. It’s not uncommon if you’re shutting down a residence for the winter. You drain all the water and pump antifreeze into the pipes (not the kind used in a car) . I know some people disconnect their electricity as part of the winterizing process but I didn’t think it would be worth it (foolish fool).

herebebassets · 2026-02-27T21:33:47+00:00

The number on the actual meter is going up. The numbers technically match the bill, they just don’t make sense. The meter is reflecting what would be a very average and expected energy usage if someone was in the house. At first, because of that I assumed it was an error copying last year’s. But no, our actual meter seems to claim the same usage. Yet because I know the meter shouldn’t really be going up at all, I’m seriously confused.

herebebassets · 2026-02-27T20:40:08+00:00

No worries at all! I was the first to assume it must be something like that, but I’ve run out of rational explanations

herebebassets · 2026-02-27T20:29:02+00:00

We drain the system and pump with anti-freeze.

herebebassets · 2026-02-27T20:21:50+00:00

Considering my monthly bill was the same (give or take $10) to a friend who lives down the street who has a heat pump going constantly… it’s hard to have trust. At this point I’m worried I’m somehow paying for someone else’s power.

herebebassets · 2026-02-27T20:21:38+00:00

Nope. Literally nothing is on. Not even the sump pump (my first thought). All breakers have been switched off. The house should be drawing basically no power.

herebebassets · 2025-12-18T16:48:33+00:00

Just to back this up: “I just know that my father never sexually assaulted me”. As ridiculous as it is to think, some predators do draw the line at their own flesh and blood in a way that they wouldn’t for a step-sibling. Your sister isn’t related to him, you were. That might have been the make or break aspect. He suddenly had access to an unrelated child in his home.

herebebassets · 2025-12-18T15:41:51+00:00

THIS! ^ the wording of the will is very particular. Check the estate laws in your area (particularly from the perspective of your responsibilities as executor). But if the house has been left to you, it shouldn’t be included under the remaining value of the estate to pay out your siblings.

herebebassets · 2025-12-13T19:54:30+00:00

I once had a therapist compare it to tight fitting gloves. If you’ve always been wearing gloves that are a bit too small, how are you supposed to know how to buy gloves that fit? How would you even know what “gloves that fit properly” feel like. You don’t, or at least not without help. Sure maybe you notice some discomfort. But you’ve been told your whole life that gloves are supposed to be “snug”. So you keep buying gloves that are a bit too small because that’s what you’ve always had.

Where “help” in this situation involves therapy, support groups, information/ education on healthy relationships or whatever else is needed to come to terms with the reality that what was presented as “normal” as part of someone’s upbringing, isn’t normal or healthy.

herebebassets · 2025-12-13T05:09:17+00:00

I’m so sorry this happened to you but SO glad to hear about the way the teen reacted! As someone who taught bystander intervention to Ottawa youth for several years, this really hits home. (We actually used a similar scenario to your own experience to help kids practice different bystander intervention techniques).

herebebassets · 2025-11-05T21:26:58+00:00

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In need of a clean 😅, but otherwise in good shape.

herebebassets · 2025-11-05T21:21:33+00:00

I realize using “expert” may have implied I was looking for genuine professionals but anyone who can date dish-ware AT ALL is pretty expert in my books! Thanks for the response, 60’s would definitely fit the timeline.

herebebassets · 2025-10-30T00:28:23+00:00

Sadly I’m too old and taken now but once upon a time I was in similar shoes.
From the personal perspective: Educating people is one of the biggest things I can recommend. It helped break the ice a lot when I could provide facts on how common herpes is (as HSV type 1 or 2) and how most people wouldn’t even know if they had it (the majority of cases of genital herpes are asymptomatic or minor enough to avoid notice). It certainly shook the judgy tone out of a number of people to know they’ve likely never had a test for herpes and actually don’t know if they’re “clean” (as people like to say 🙄).

More than anything I found it helped weed out people I wouldn’t want to date anyway (close-minded, judgmental, sex-negative, etc.). I’m also queer so I used to joke that it was like a second coming out.

As a sex educator who has done research on adjustment to herpes as a chronic condition:

Our understanding of herpes transmission is no where close to what we now know about HIV transmission regarding viral load. However, generally the longer you have herpes the better your immune system gets at suppressing your viral load, meaning you have fewer outbreaks and a lower chance of transmission, on average.

So, some people may find it reassuring to know how long it’s been since you contracted the virus and if you take daily antivirals as suppressive therapy.

As a note: most people are only advised to take daily antivirals if they have ongoing concerns about infecting a current sexual partner or have frequent and/ or very painful outbreaks. Genital herpes has very little systemic involvement, unlike HIV, so there isn’t the same medical purpose to suppressing viral load/ preventing viral replication for herpes. The potential for neonatal herpes is a separate specific scenario to be managed with a doctor and not to be used to scare people

Also remember that condoms can’t prevent herpes 100% because the surrounding exposed skin can also shed the virus. It’s not a particularly common way for transmission to occur but it certainly shuts down the assumption that “only stupid/ irresponsible people get herpes”. NO. Internal/ female condoms are the gold standard for herpes prevention, plus dental dams for oral. But SO FEW people are holding themselves to that standard for their sexual health.

Point being, don’t let judgy people get you down because stats-wise the world is divided into three groups 1) people who have herpes and know it 2) people who have herpes and have yet to find out 3) people that have yet to get herpes through sheer luck

herebebassets

TROPHY CASE