Surprise ‘gift’ a thing of beauty, and ‘smart’ too!

We had a “break-in” of sorts at our place today. Nothing was taken.

I was in town all afternoon and when I got home I noticed the sprinklers hadn’t come on. The clock on the kitchen range was blinking. The Favourites menu on the TV had conked out. The microwave was on the fritz.

Then I found a note from the intruder on the front step. “A new smart meter was installed today,” it said. “You don’t need to do anything at all to activate the new meter. However, since the installation can involve a brief power interruption, you may need to reset some of your electronic devices.”

No kidding.

To be fair, a guy from Corix — the contract installer for B.C. Hydro — left a voice mail last week saying the last time they tried to install the new smart meter, the front gate was locked. They would be here again next Tuesday, he said, and would need the gate unlocked so they could get in.

I thought I detected just a hint of a lecture tone in the message. By today, I’d forgotten all about it and headed off to town, locking the gate as usual. The Corix guys were up to the challenge, climbing the fence and lugging the new meter the quarter mile to the pole where the old one was located, making the swap, and exiting with the old one.

“Sorry for any inconvenience,” said the door-hanger they dropped on the front mat. So we’re smart-metered now. And the whole thing was perfectly legal.

Sometimes I wonder about where our society is heading, when somebody who indirectly represents our government can come onto your property without permission while you’re away and give you something you didn’t ask for.