I got my power bill over the weekend. I put off opening it until yesterday. I wanted to gather my strength and steel myself against the shock of what I knew was coming – another triple-digit assault on my checkbook. We’ve had a few days of cold weather lately and my heater doesn’t like that – it runs its little heart out struggling to keep my place lukewarm. I give it a boost by keeping the thermostat at 68 and wearing hoodies.

So, I opened the letter from Gulf Power and took a deep breath. I looked at the amount owed:

Six dollars and 72 cents.

I couldn’t believe. Fact is, I didn’t believe it. I checked the entire bill, looking for the catch. It must be a typo, I told myself. Had an unknown benefactor paid most of my power bill, like the fellow who picked up the layaway tab at Walmart in Destin just before Christmas?

Then I saw what had happened. I was refunded the same amount as a bill I’d paid two cycles ago. Seems one of my payment checks was very late getting to them and X number of dollars had been added to a later bill. Or something like that. I haven’t called them and I’m not sure I want to know.

But I’m very happy to have a $6.72 power bill.

Oh, go ahead and hate me. I’d hate me too if my power bill were that low.

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