Because you have no idea how much electricity is being used even when everything is 'off'. Don't feel bad, most people don't. Try it sometime...turn EVERYTHING you can think of off, then go watch the dial. It's still spinning, but why? Well, let's see. Did you unplug the fridge? Probably not. Did you unplug EVERY electric device? No, you probably turned them off. Your answering machine is sipping energy. Same with your TV..."instant on" comes at a price. You may have a smoke-heat detector running on house power, or a doorbell light. Even when you think you have, you very rarely have "turned everything off". On the gas bill, odds are you have a gas water heater. You almost certainly have a gas stove-oven, as you say you've not cooked in a whole year...but this has no bearing on the gas bill unless you have a gas stove. If you truly are not using ANY gas at all, discontinue service. Then don't keep it open if you don't need it. On the phone, yeah, I'm with you...don't even get me started. 85% of that 85% isn't even really taxes, it goes RIGHT to the bottom line of the phone company. "Universal service" is a joke...if you choose to live at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, why should I pay to subsidize your phone service? Number portability is even worse. If you change carriers and want to keep your same number, YOU pay for it, don't come crying to me about it. Also, that number isn't all that portable either. Move across the street, and even if you stay with the same carrier, you may be on a different CO-exchange and get told too bad, can't have your old number anyway. But you'll still pay for it. -- Minister of All Things Digital & Electronic, and Holder of Past Knowledge I speak for no one but myself, and Caffeine will be buttimilated. no one else speaks for me. O- Decaf is futile.
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