Electric bill..... What? O_o

I'm going to complain. I'm going to rant... maybe.
I just got my electric bill. I just had a WTF moment. I just hyperventilated.
I have Ohio Edison as my electric provider. Ohio Edison is owned by First Energy.
I opened my bill today and I see my bill is $125.80. I think "holy crap, my kids are using too much electricity!".

As I examine my bill, I realize that this is not the case. We only used $69.25 in electricity, which is slightly high, but its been hot. This is where the WTF moment came in, right before my self righteous indignation  took front and center. Where did the rest of the bill come from? I proceeded with my examination.....

I'm being charged an extra $56.55.
$4.00 for a "customer charge", $4.58 for a "cost recovery charge", and $47.97 for a "DISTRIBUTION RELATED COMPONENT".WTF is that? According to my bill, a "distribution related component" is "a charge (including taxes) for moving electricity over electric distribution lines to your home or business. Formerly, Delivery Charge".

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd....... Cue self righteous indignation.

They're going to charge me for distribution???!! Hey, Ohio Edison, you're OWNED by the company that provides my electricity. You're the only company I can HAVE for electricity.You want me to pay for YOUR company to bring YOUR company's electricity into my house, and then you want me to pay for the electricity too???!! AND you want to charge me for being a CUSTOMER??!! You're almost doubling my bill!

I repeated the above speech to customer service. Its explained to me that the "distribution charge" is similar to a rental fee. First Energy is providing electricity to me through Ohio Edison's power lines and I have to pay a fee for that. FIRST ENERGY OWNS OHIO EDISON. I'm using First Energy's power lines. Does anyone understand this other than me? O_o
Basically, the customer service rep gave me a "that's how it is and everyone pays it" speech and hung up on me.

Everyone is broke. Money is tight EVERYWHERE. Everyone is in debt including our own government.
Evidently, this justifies raising the prices on everything from food and gas all the way to electricity. Even after pondering over it for hours now, I still can't understand why First Energy/Ohio Edison would create such a ridiculous charge with the economy the way it is.
I guess the theory must be that they already raised the electric prices, why not go all out and take every dime?

Crowdtap and Old Navy Shorts!

First off, I want to thank Old Navy and CrowdTap for providing me with wonderful opportunities to share products and brands with my friends and family.

Recently, I was provided (by CrowdTap and Old Navy) an Old Navy Style Council coupon booklet that included 4 coupons. Each coupon was good for a free top, a free pair of shorts and a free accessory of our choice (including shoes, jewelry, hats, scarves, bags, etc.)

I invited a couple of my friends and I dragged my mum along for the fun of it (she's never shopped at Old Navy O_o). We had a lovely lunch at Chipolte and headed to the nearest Old Navy store to cause mayhem and destruction.... err... I mean.... to have fun and check out the shorts ;)

The Old Navy Staff was wonderful. Not only did they go above and beyond the call of duty, they had wonderful suggestions and recommendations. The whole staff treated us like royalty even though we were probably being a pain in the ass. It was absolutely wonderful.

We had fun trying on outfits and critiquing each other's choices. It was really fun to give "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" to each other while we were trying things on. My mum and I had some fun with some of the accessories since we're a little crazy. We had all the girls laughing (store staff included).

All in all we had the best time. We had girl time, and we got to shop. Everyone was exhausted when we were through, but I'm pretty sure they still had enough energy to call around and rave about Old Navy. I would gladly do it again anytime.

I picked a lime green top with black cut-off shorts and a pair of wedge shoes with my coupon. Then I HAD to buy a hat to match it because it was so adorable. I don't think anyone walked out of the store without buying a little something extra. The only thing that upset me a bit was that my Old Navy store doesn't carry jewelry.... but I think I have enough anyway!

This was a great opportunity for all of us and we all agreed that it was the most fun we've had in a very long time. Thanks CrowdTap and Old Navy!

**Disclaimer: Products were provided by CrowdTap and Old Navy. 

I did not receive any monetary compensation and all opinions in this blog are mine and mine alone.