Electric frustrations

A year-and-a-half or so ago, I was walking toward our house from across the street where there is a little shop. I saw four Kyrgyz men standing outside our house, which always makes me nervous, and when I approached, they started telling me they were going to disconnect our electricity because we hadn't paid our bill. Well, we'd just gotten our bill only a day or two before, so it wasn't due yet, but as I tried to explain it to them, all they did was laugh and smirk like idiots, and then went ahead and turned off our power. I was SOO mad at them! Steve had to go to the electric company the next day and get it all straightened out; it was a mistake, of course. So...2 days ago, when I looked out the window and saw another group of 4 men from the electric company, I opted NOT to go out and be humiliated by them again, and watched one of them climb up our power pole and, again, disconnect the power to our house! This was t 3:30 p.m. I texted Steve to let him know what was going on, and started getting candles ready and psyching the kids up for a candlelight evening of playing games. The house was warm, thanks to our lovely coal heat, and all went well. Yesterday morning, Steve made another trip to the electric company, and once again, it was "a mistake." The guys were back by 9:30, rehooking our power. What a waste of time! We enjoyed the electriity for about 4 hours, until it was switched off for the usual power cuts, along with our water, which was turned off for who-knows-why all afternoon. Like I always say, "If it's not one thing, it's another!"