I picked up the keys to my new home on a hot Thursday afternoon. I had spent the previous days lugging all my things into and between the storage units I had rented, 200 miles apart. Just this climate change denier’s luck to have chosen the hottest days of the year – and perhaps the only days of the year that qualify as hot – for such physical work. The van I hired for the move had no air-conditioning, and the seals on my own car’s AC had failed during lockdowns due to inactivity. Legs, arms, hands and feet aching, surely the worst of the move was now over. The headache began when I headed into my new home to check the gas and electricity meters.
As you probably know, you check the meters immediately on arrival in a new home to ensure you aren’t charged for the previous occupant’s gas and electricity use. But when looking at the house I had forgotten to check what kind of meter it was. Worst even than a smart meter, both meters were the prepayment type. Worse still, there were no keys. Even worse, there was just £2.80 remaining on the electricity meter.
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