I have spent the last few days fixing things, being stoical and ‘thinking outside the box’.
So a few things have gone wrong. The dishwasher finally curled up its toes, but we had been expecting it. We had already spent £60 call out fee, plus £20-odd soldering to its beleaguered circuit board and said that next time it ailed; we would pull the plug on it. So it tried to catch fire, and now we’ve pulled the plug. One day we might buy a new one.
Then the washing machine followed its cousin’s example. We had a few days of very excitable spinning, then it stopped mid-cycle. Never mind, we have a contract out on that machine which means we GALMI (Get A Little Man In) if something goes wrong. Last time it was the drum, and we were given a shiny new one. The old one is still a feature in the garden, although it did have a starring role on bonfire night when I filled it with wood and lit it. So I took two loads of washing, school uniform-coloured, to the launderette in Narberth, which is always a convivial thing to do and only lasts half an hour to forty minutes as the machines there are impressively quick.
“And anyway,” I said to B, “At least I don’t have to put the crockery in the car and cart it down to Narberth to get it washed!”
How we laughed! Then we ran out of oil and the boiler stopped. Ha ha! No hot water to wash-up in. We boiled kettles. The novelty of that has never really worn on. And how I missed my lovely hot baths.
So Saturday was spent fixing things. First of all phoning for oil. I braced myself for the hike in the price. Gobsmacked best describes it. So having organised the oil and boiled a couple of kettles for washing up I then contemplated the task of getting the four of us presentable and sweet-smelling for school/work/housework avoidance on Monday. I figured that a good marinating in chlorine might keep us clean-smelling until the boiler is started up again. So we availed ourselves of the lovely hot showers at Fishguard swimming pool. We showered on the way in and we shamelessly hogged them again on the way out, lathering away to our hearts content.
The oil arrived at the crack of dawn this morning. All 1,200 litres of it. I shut my eyes as I wrote the cheque, but I know that it was over £600. The GALMI has temporarily fixed the washing machine, but it Needs A Part, and He’ll Be Back.
Meanwhile I have moved furniture around in the hope of harnessing the power of Feng Shui. Perhaps the armchair was in the wrong position. Perhaps my wealth corner is not the best place for an airer full of drying washing. I think I might need to consult a book…
So a few things have gone wrong. The dishwasher finally curled up its toes, but we had been expecting it. We had already spent £60 call out fee, plus £20-odd soldering to its beleaguered circuit board and said that next time it ailed; we would pull the plug on it. So it tried to catch fire, and now we’ve pulled the plug. One day we might buy a new one.
Then the washing machine followed its cousin’s example. We had a few days of very excitable spinning, then it stopped mid-cycle. Never mind, we have a contract out on that machine which means we GALMI (Get A Little Man In) if something goes wrong. Last time it was the drum, and we were given a shiny new one. The old one is still a feature in the garden, although it did have a starring role on bonfire night when I filled it with wood and lit it. So I took two loads of washing, school uniform-coloured, to the launderette in Narberth, which is always a convivial thing to do and only lasts half an hour to forty minutes as the machines there are impressively quick.
“And anyway,” I said to B, “At least I don’t have to put the crockery in the car and cart it down to Narberth to get it washed!”
How we laughed! Then we ran out of oil and the boiler stopped. Ha ha! No hot water to wash-up in. We boiled kettles. The novelty of that has never really worn on. And how I missed my lovely hot baths.
So Saturday was spent fixing things. First of all phoning for oil. I braced myself for the hike in the price. Gobsmacked best describes it. So having organised the oil and boiled a couple of kettles for washing up I then contemplated the task of getting the four of us presentable and sweet-smelling for school/work/housework avoidance on Monday. I figured that a good marinating in chlorine might keep us clean-smelling until the boiler is started up again. So we availed ourselves of the lovely hot showers at Fishguard swimming pool. We showered on the way in and we shamelessly hogged them again on the way out, lathering away to our hearts content.
The oil arrived at the crack of dawn this morning. All 1,200 litres of it. I shut my eyes as I wrote the cheque, but I know that it was over £600. The GALMI has temporarily fixed the washing machine, but it Needs A Part, and He’ll Be Back.
Meanwhile I have moved furniture around in the hope of harnessing the power of Feng Shui. Perhaps the armchair was in the wrong position. Perhaps my wealth corner is not the best place for an airer full of drying washing. I think I might need to consult a book…
Oh good grief - I hope things have now calmed down . . alot of us seem to have had runs of bad luck . . One day we will all laugh about this - but get the timing wrong and the first one to laugh too early could get clobbered by the rest of us . . .
ReplyDeleteOh you poor thing PM, what a bummer for want of a better expression. And the cost of that oil!!!! Thinking my wealth corner needs something stronger than feng shui - a flipping miracle may just do it! xx
ReplyDeleteMy wealth corner is more like a piece of pink paper with six numbers on it..... still lets hope you have appeased the gods for a while anyway.....
ReplyDeleteouch, that sounds very painful on the pockets!
ReplyDeleteThe hellebores look beautiful though!
xx
Things always konc out at the same time WHY and oil is ridiculous now isnt it i'm almost tempted only a diddy bit! to go back to wood and coal...The swimming pool and showers saw alot of us when we where renovating it's a good idea xx
ReplyDeleteOil, gas? Horrendous prices. We never call the gas man - he's automatically dialled up and mysteriously appears at a price which has gone up 6 times this year. Moan, moan.
ReplyDeleteWe're still looking for the wealth corner.
I hope things get sorted out for you soon, they always happen in threes (or more!)
ReplyDeleteI love Narberth, nice town.
cracking stuff, PM. You make it sound very funny, but I am wincing with you sister over all that expensive stuff going wrong. Am busy in housework avoidance here too!
ReplyDeleteLoved this. Real gloomy tale. It's probably not very warm at 3am down there in Preseli, either! But just think, adversity makes you stronger.
ReplyDeleteI won't say anymore in case I am the one who gets clobbered!
(I came here looking for cooking - but I think I've found the link!)
I don't visit for a while - then all this at once! Loved the woodpecker in the last one - let's just hope his pecking doesn't get earlier and earlier as the mornings get lighter!
ReplyDeleteBad luck on the appliances front. We once ran out of oil and not only had to call the oil man but had to call the heating man too to get the gunk from the bottom of the tank out of the tiny pipe that runs to the boiler. He did this by lying on the ground and sucking the pipe. I kid you not.