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davis_squareThis afternoon some guy mashed the doorbells on the house I live in until I (a home-office type) answered. He identified himself as from the City of Somerville, come to look at the house's "meters" (I didn't catch which kind), because they were emitting "bogus" readings.
He interrupted my workday, so since my mind was grinding away on other tasks, I robotically let him inside to diddle around in our basement without getting any ID or name or nuthin, or even looking outside to note the presence or absence of a Somerville-branded vehicle. Presently, the man emerged to report that all was in order, and left.
As you are aware by reading this far, I now feel like an idiot, rather aghast at how far away I let my head float. My landlord (who I emailed about this) is understandably like "wtf" at me.
Help me, I am stupid: Does it even make sense that a city worker would care about "meters"? Isn't that more the provenance of utility companies? If it does make sense, who would I call to confirm that they sent a guy out? (And would they be open on the weekend? Can you understand why the fact this all happened late Friday afternoon would make me more paranoid?)
More to the point, has this dude maybe visited anyone else with a similar goal? He was a 40/50-something heavy-set white guy in work clothes. Seemed sane and apologetically professional. So he either was who he said he was -- which is, I imagine, the more likely case -- or I totally got pwned, and have no idea what kind of horrible plots are even now hatching underneath my kitchen floor.
He interrupted my workday, so since my mind was grinding away on other tasks, I robotically let him inside to diddle around in our basement without getting any ID or name or nuthin, or even looking outside to note the presence or absence of a Somerville-branded vehicle. Presently, the man emerged to report that all was in order, and left.
As you are aware by reading this far, I now feel like an idiot, rather aghast at how far away I let my head float. My landlord (who I emailed about this) is understandably like "wtf" at me.
Help me, I am stupid: Does it even make sense that a city worker would care about "meters"? Isn't that more the provenance of utility companies? If it does make sense, who would I call to confirm that they sent a guy out? (And would they be open on the weekend? Can you understand why the fact this all happened late Friday afternoon would make me more paranoid?)
More to the point, has this dude maybe visited anyone else with a similar goal? He was a 40/50-something heavy-set white guy in work clothes. Seemed sane and apologetically professional. So he either was who he said he was -- which is, I imagine, the more likely case -- or I totally got pwned, and have no idea what kind of horrible plots are even now hatching underneath my kitchen floor.
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Might be NStar
Date: 2010-11-19 11:19 pm (UTC)Re: Might be NStar
Date: 2010-11-19 11:22 pm (UTC)Re: Might be NStar
Date: 2010-11-20 03:34 am (UTC)An NSTAR guy came by my place today (around Ball Sq.) about checking things and "upgrades" that apparently might need doing. He was wearing a ton of NSTAR stuff and identified himself as being with them. I told him my landlord wasn't home to let him into the basement, and he said my landlord should call NSTAR for an appointment, leaving some clear paperwork, which says:
"Federal and State regulations require NSTAR to inspect the gas piping on your property up to and including the gas meter for gas leaks and also for atmospheric corrosion every three years. There is no charge for this inspection but it requires access to any NSTAR-owned piping inside the building."
The wording from the regulations is also included.