The Devil, The Gas Co, & PG&E

Now here's an interesting cast of characters. For as much as Money is the all mighty God in our Country, I think I can safely say that some of our most prominent corporations are most certainly the Devil. This, of course, includes every bank in this Nation too.
I haven't revealed a ton about myself or my situation, but in brief..... I was with my childrens father for 13 years, broke up in 2000 and started life on my own with my children. We had a rocky break up but are now very good friends, and as it turns out, he is the only man (aside from my son) that I trust. Rewind to 2004, I got swept off my feet by a guy who had been asking me out for aprox 2years. He was a customer at the bar I bartended and it was my motto to NEVER date the customers. But 2 years later and seeing him in a Kinkos one day, proved to finally break my rule. I accepted his invitation, he was wild, fun, funny, and passionate. I told my ex ( Big Steve/ my childrens father) about my involvement with the new guy and he quickly warned me about him. Steve knew me since I was 17 and always said I was "too nieve to be out in the world",,, he said "men would take advantage of me because I was too nice". I tossed his advice to the side and took the road of anger towards him rather then listen. After all, Steve knew just about everyone in town, where as I didnt socialize much,,, I just worked and took care of my kids. And socializing I did was by way of the radio station I worked for.... I was a part time model and radio personality, doing billboards, morning weather reports and so on....so my socializing was usually only through doing events and such. Anyhow, as much as Steve told me about this guy, I still wouldnt listen. He had said he was a "known woman beater and had broke his last girlfriends arm". They frequently fought in public and he had done alot of jail time because of it. Well fast forward, I started a passionate relationship with the guy and married him within 6 wks of knowing him. Yes, I was extremely stupid. I am stubborn and at the time rebellious too. You see, Big Steve as everyone calls him was not just the father of my children and my partner for 13 years...but he was almost like a father figure too in alot of ways. But he was also very possesive and jealous in our relationship.....it ultimately created a monster out of me when I left him because I didnt want to listen to him anymore. Now dont get me wrong... I only had 2 real relationships after him...one for 4 years and then the dreadful marriage of 2 years. But when he said the sky was blue, id say it was red. I was just rebelious since I had felt he had held me down for so long and without reason. Because he knew then and knows now that I truly did devote my life to being a good "partner" and mother. It meant the world to me...but no matter how good I was, he always seemed to raise the bar higher, thus is the reason that I finally left. But as Big as Big Steve was, he never hit a women or disrespected one. My son is a shining example too, my son respected eveyone, protected his mother & sister, and had goals in life....Big STeve was a very good father. Unfortuntely though, I chose to marry the guy Big Steve had warned me about, thus within 2 months time I was being beaten. And since I had so rebeliously married this guy against Steves wishes and my own childrens wishes,,, I was forced to hide it. I couldnt belive how far I had sunk. I was humiliated. I had came from having nothing as a child to building a family unit with Big Steve, to leaving him with nothing and rebuiding my life very positively by way of a good career both in rela estate and radio and modeling... I was on the covers of many of local magazines regarding my work in radio and on billboards...Id do photo shoots with my children for Mothers Day ect.... I had built a very nice life for myself and my children..... and now, I was everything that I knew not to be. Hiding marks and bruises, lying to my family saying "all is great with my marriage" It was a nightmare...and at the time, I was making more money then I had ever in my life. I had been striving towards these goals for years in an effort to better my childrens lives....but by marrying this guy, I quickly saw how he was blowing through my money as though it grew off trees. I knew within 4 months time that I had to get out of this marriage. But it took me 2 years to do it. I lost everything I had worked for....he had no job, I bought us a house, I gave him $10K to build a business (which he squandered, big surprise), I had dug myself so far in a hole that I contiplated suicide daily, but knew I had to stay strong & get out for my kids sake. Well without boring you with all the details....one fateful night I did get out... he had been kicking me around and when he went downstairs I knew then that I was going to fight back and then leave for good and loose everything....my good credit, my house, my dignity, everything. I had just days earlier given a deposit for a rental for myself and daughter...my son had moved back with his dad due to his dislike for the guy I married. So I knew that I had a place to go....and he (my husband)didnt. So I fought him with all my might & went to jail for the first time in my life. My daughter was at a friends....interesting enough, as much as I cried all the way there (i had never been to jail before and thought they made you get naked and sprayed you down...saw that in some movie) but turns out they dont do that and in fact, they were nice and kept throwing drunk girls in with me.... it kind of felt like a girls night out...all us girls told our stories as to why we were there, we laughed, we cried, we got mad for not having blankets (of which they then gave us) and then we asked for hot tea (of which they did not give us). I was there for about 5 hours til my frined bailed me out and when I left, all us girls hugged and the policeman that gave me my property back asked me about selling his house...he knew I was a realtor. Go and figure!

Well heres the thing,,,, I believe in Carma,,,, and as much as I hate to say it. I got a little of what I deserved. I made a very hasty and wrong decision to marry a guy based on passion. I was warned of his behavor and chose not to hear it. No woman deserves to go through what I went though but I knew which decisions I was responsible for and it was up to me to realize that all I had worked for was going to be lost and I would just start all over from scratch. Thats very hard to do... but I had to do it.
Heres where it gets maddening though. This guy kept me in court for 2 years after I left him, trying to get more money out of me. He claimed he had become used to a lifestyle and needed spousal support to continue it. I was only married to the guy 25 months...he never worked (which worked to his advantage), because I was the breadwinner of the family. Anyhow, during the 2 years fighting this bastard, I learned alot about law and how to win....But it was ruthless..... he had a sister- in -law that I never met that was an atorney, she was green though and tried to be a bulldog (unprofessionally attacking me inn the halls of the court house all while being swwet in the court room, intentionally not giving me proper notice or filings so as to make me look bad in court, and then yelling at me over the phone day in and day out, accusing my children of ludricous things, day in day out harrassing me both verbally and trying to bury me in paperwork) I had an attorney frined who said he would help me a bit and try to talk to her...after 3 conversations he literally said "no way am I dealing with that woman, she just yells at me and tries to bury me in paperowrk) Then about a year into it I saved up $1500 to hire an attorney,,,, she held the case for about 8 months and then jumped ship making the same claims. No one wanted to deal with this lady. She was pshycotic & she was an attorney, it was scary. Anyhow, I was devestated after I lost $1500 of money I couldnt even afford in the first place and still wasnt divorced and had to deal with this woman...until one day a light went off in my head. What if I turned the tables on her? I learned what my rights were. I started playing dumb to her request instead of jumping through every hoop. Previously, when she said to do something, Id do it and do it to perfection which took hours and hours of my time drafting documents, sending her alll sorts of paperwork time and time again because she would say it was all wrong. You see, Here I was an intelligent woman who had a good career, and prided myslef on my excellence in the way I did things. But I soon learned that that is exactly what she was using against me. She knew that I would try to do everything to perfection until I damn near went crazy. So on that day when it dawned on me that I didnt need to jump through her hoops, and I shouldnt have even been expected to do some of things she was asking of me, I decided I would just play dumb there fore causing her to have to do all the paperwork that she kept requesting over and over again....and I would just focus on sceduling court dates. And any judge would just put this damn marriage to rest. No sooner did I start this practice, did "Psycho Lawyer" offer me a settlement to close the case. I insisted that she meet me in court. I had schedule 2 court date. She wanted no part of that. She tried to get me to file papers for her since she was 200 miles away from the court house.....and I said "Im not a lawyer, I dont know how to do anything like that"....even though I did. In the end I won....I represented myself, she settled very quickly as soon as I stopped playing her game. And in fact, went to the court house on a day she was supposed to be there, she couldnt show so the ex was all by himself and showing his true colors for the first time in court....previously she handled everything and looked sweet and innocent...but alone he couldnt handle anything and started yelling at the court secretary...it was perfect. Finally vindacation!

But heres the upset even still to this day.... years later. As I was going thru this divorce I had my ex use my social security number to aquire utility services for which he left me with the bill, I had him take money from my personal bank account ( for which I had had long before him and hadnt intended to share with him), I also encountered indentity theft ($1500 taken from my bank account from an out of Country theif). This was reprted to the police and ultimately returned to my account. But I have had other incidents since and have had to close my account and restart a new one. Over the last 5 years I went form making $80K per year to maybe $15K per year. My son is 20 now and no longer lives with me but he and his dad help me and my daughter ....she is a wonderful person and has been with me through thick and thin. She never makes me feel like I ve let her down financially even though I know I have. When my son was 16 I was able to tak ehim out and buy him a truck that week...she's 17 and I still cant afford it....and either can her dad because he's so broke from having to help us out all the time. But she never complains. But it kills me inside. I had worked so hard to make a good life for my cxhildren and I blew it over one stupid decision. I will never forgive myself. Anyhow, her and I with the help of her dad just moved because the other place we lived in was without heat due to a leaking propane line and broken heater that seemed to always break just as soon as we would get it fixed. We live in an area where the nights are filled with ice and as low as 20degrees. We were so happy to get into our new place. We literally slept on the floors onxmas eve just because we were so happy to have heat. We were freezing in our old place and use to just sit in my room with a space heater under the covers. I cant afford cable so we'd just watch the same movies over and over again. It was so cold that you couldnt move about without discomfort. Anyhow, I paid the deposit and rent for the new place and got the utilities on. I saw the stove was electric and assumed that everything was run on electric....I havnt had to use The Gas Co for years since where we live is only propane...so I didnt even think to call the gas company. We were living in our new place for about a week when suddenly the heater stopped working and there was no hot water. I called PG&E to find out the problem and found out that we are also on Gas. So I called the Gas Co. and assumed the role of new customer..... they were rude and acted as though how dare i use thier service free of charge for a few days without notifying them of my new tenancy. I explained that I didnt realize this was a Gas served location being that the stove tops were electric, I assumed it was all electric and PG&E didnt say anything when I initially transferred my service. Then in a mocking tone, the Gas Co happily informs me that I owe them $500 plus dollars from an out of town address and until that bill is paid I cannot get service. I state that this must be a mistake for Ive been in the same location for quite a few years now and have had only propane or electric. I also specify that I had identity theft aprox 3 years ago. And then ask could they give me the date of the bill that is supoosedly mine. Turns out its aproz 3 years ago. The lady argues with me for awhile but when I tell her that I have all the necessary police records to account for identity theft and could send them to her in hope to remedy this problem, she then states thats acceptable until we get it resolved and will allow for my service to be turned on. As it is, me and my daughter have to go 5 days without heat or hot water because they wont come out until then. But I suck it up and figure I can handle cold showers for a few days. Finally Tuesday comes, the day to be connected and no one shows up....after hours of waiting, I call in to see whats going on. They inform me in the rudest manner that they tried to reach me over the weekend to let me know they will not be coming out or allow my service. Im shocked and asked why....they state 1st that they tried calling my work but the place said I dont work there....I asked if possibly you took down the wromg number because I was at worked all weekend. And secondly they had done their research and decided that I am responsible for the bill. Well as it turns out,,, that guy I married had so perfectly used my name, yet again, for a utility for which I knew nothing about. I had told them over and over again that I have all the paperwork showing that I did not live at the address in question and have a police report showing identity theft. ...and I would even offer to pay installments on this enormous bill until we can get it resolved, if they would just please turn my gas on. The woman treated me like a criminal. worse then a criminal, she treated me like a person who beats animals and elderly people. I started to cry because I realized that the nightmare of that marriage still interrupts my life even today. And as broke as I am... I have actually found a genuine happiness in the simple things in life with my daughter as we struggle to get by day after day. And yet, no matter how many obstacles Ive overcome or how good one trys to be in life. A huge company with no heart can bring you right back to the point of suicidal thinking again. It kills me that no matter how much I have tried to get back on my feet and how many days a week that I work, that I still sit here with no heat and no hot water and have to tell my daughter to shower at friends houses if she can. And this treatment is given to a person who, even though, never lived at the address in question, is still offeering to make some sort of payment arraqngements. But rather then have any acceptance or counter offer back from The Gas Co. I get told that according tothem I have no job because whoever dialed certainly wouldn't have called a wrong number & I have to pay this "Surprise to me" bill in full or nothing!

So if wanna find God or the Devil.....their not hard to find. Gods that great thing that fills your wallet "money", which buys "happiness", or at least heat, respect from Big Compnaies like the Gas Co cause if you have lots of money then a surprise $500 bill is nothing to you....but if you wanna see the devil, look no further then your utiiity company and your bank. Cause if you dont have enough of God to fill your account or pay outstanding "surprise bills" then the devil will make your life hell....a freezing hell....one of which reminds you that no matter what your goals are in life, no matter how much you love your children, no matter how much you feel guilty and are trying to make up for your mistakes.....the devil will bring you right back to thoughts of killing yourself just so that you are no longer a burden to anyone anymore....but then you realize if you kill yourself those bastards would probly try to make my children pay for this debt (thats not even mine in first place)....and I'll kill anyone who ever treated my children the way these demon ran companies treated me and so many others that ultimtely are the ones whos dollars are providing these ingrates with job security in the first place. Do you think they remember the days when businesses truly appreciated their customers because they knew the value of a customer and how without them, a company does not exist in the first place! And to top it all off,,,, the people of whom I spoke with were a Ms. Ortega and Ms. Gonzalas....God Bless America!