Even after all we’ve been through with Central Maine Power over the past 291 days, those crazy comrades in Augusta never cease to amaze us.

Annoy us?  Oh, yes.  Perturb us?  Absolutely.  Yank out our rapidly greying hair in giant clumps of frustration?  Each and every glorious day.  But rarely a week goes by in our great quest for electricity that we don’t begrudgingly say “Wow –didn’t see THAT coming….”

On one hand, we definitely made forward progress this week.  With a bit of help from The Leader of the Pole People, the trees along Lower Mast Landing were trimmed back in preparation for the electrical lines :

That’s a big deal.  Without trimming back those trees, no wire.  No wire, no electricity.  But after two days of chainsaws and chippers, we’re ready to roll.

Even more surprisingly, we got a meter.  YES, A METER.  An orange truck glided up out of the mist one afternoon, a guy got out of a truck and a few minutes later, CMP’s version of a reverse ATM machine appeared on our utility panel :

Trees trimmed.  Conduit run up the driveway in an elegant arc with pull lines in place.  Meter in place.  Wire from the meter to the house.  Electrical panel on the wall with a couple of outlets already wired in the basement for the sub-contractor crews.

We. Are. Fricking. Ready.

So you can imagine our surprise to get this email today :

www.cmpco.com

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DEAR CRAZY HOUSE BLOG LADY*,

We’ve set a date to connect your new service and we guarantee it will be done.

We will connect your new electrical service by 06/28/2013. In fact, we guarantee it. If we don’t connect your new service by that date, the CMP delivery charges on your first electric bill will be free (up to $250). That’s our Customer Service Guarantee.

The guarantee will not apply if CMP suspends normal business operations because of storm conditions or emergencies.

We are committed to timely and courteous customer service. If at any time we don’t deliver up to our commitment, we want to hear from you! If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to email us and one of our Service Coordination Team members will respond to you in a timely manner.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve you.

Sincerely,

Your CMP Service Coordination Team

We are available Monday through Friday from 7:30 am to 4:00 pm. Please don’t hesitate to e-mail us.

(* Not her real name.)

Seriously?  TWENTY-TWO MORE DAYS?  ON TOP OF THE 291?

It’s at these moments that we grab a gin & tonic, sit back and say to ourselves — “Wow.  Didn’t see THAT coming…”