Don't Be Stubborn

You've heard of penny wise and pound foolish? Well, this person deserves a posthumous Darwin Award. The man had $600,000 saved up and refused to pay his electricity bills. His electricity was restricted, and he froze to death. (see AP article pasted below)

The Town of Darien has a fuel bank that enables seniors with little income or cash flow to get fuel oil to heat their homes at reduced rates. People donate to the fund. (see Town of Darien Social Services -- www.darienct.gov.) I believe our local utilities can help people out, too. The 93-year-old man who froze obviously didn't need money, he just was stubborn about paying bills.

I knew another adult in her 70s who didn't pay the utility or the fuel oil or the telephone company and had all three shut off. She had money, too. Go figure....

The moral of the story is -- don't be stubborn about paying bills.

link to story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090205/ap_on_re_us/frozen_indoors

BAY CITY, Mich. – An attorney says a 93-year-old Michigan man who froze to death after a power company restricted electricity to his home over roughly $1,000 in unpaid bills left an estimated $600,000 to a hospital.

Marvin Schur's attorney, Cathy Reder, told the Detroit Free Press the World War II veteran bequeathed his entire fortune to Bay Medical Center.

Schur's frozen body was found Jan. 17, four days after Bay City Electric Light & Power installed a device on his electric meter that cuts power after a predetermined level is reached.

State regulators on Wednesday issued emergency rules designed to protect more people against electricity or heat shutoffs in the winter.