Everyday is freezing in our house. The boiler is still broken. There is still no central heating and still not hot water. The wireless internet and I are sitting on the landing waiting for kettles to boil in order to fill the bath tub with hot water. Question: how many times do you need to boil a 1.7 litre kettle to take a bath. Answer: too many!
Here's another interesting fact. Boiling two kettles and heating a steam iron off the same extension lead, bad idea. Blows the fuse in the extension lead. This proves the veracity of the concerns of the Portable Appliance testing man who came to our office last year, and expressed concern that the toaster, kettle and microwave all came from the same extension point. I had to put up a 'public service' notice warning people to have only one of the listed appliances plugged in at any one time.
The two kettles prove an interesting point. One belonged to my nearly-mother-in-law, reasonably expensive, flat element, 'fast boil'. The other belonged to us, exposed element and cost £9.99. Proof that you get what you pay for as the flat element kettle is about 50% faster. We've been able to donate our second kettle to the bathroom cause. We have had the hot water heater in the kitchen replaced. In a very old fashioned manner our kitchen has no hot tap, but an electric heater on the wall which heats water. This was probably as old as the defunct boiler (and our gas cooker) and broke down a few years back. Initially we weren't sure if you could even replace such an appliance; and then we found out that you could... well it just never happened. Our plumber (who is possibly the best plumber in the world) came on Friday (several days early) and fitted it. And gave Rich a crash course in basic maintenance (even though it would have paid him not to, so we'd have to call him out). The man is a gem. He's even in my address book. I've recommended him to all my friends and family who live nearby!
I also popped into the garden for a little post-winter maintenance. Pulled the netting on the fish pond out of the water (I even saw Jaws and some of his little friends lurking about). Picked up all the bits on the patio that had fallen over and untangled the beaded curtain on the door (which after about three years definitely needs replacing).
Oh, and I ironed all the clothes that were clean - ready for another week. The only problem is that the clothes that aren't clean can't be washed until the boiler is fixed as there is nowhere in this ice-box that is our house to dry them. C'est la vie. If I run out of shirts I'll just do what I do when I can't be bothered to iron... pop out and buy some more!
Here's another interesting fact. Boiling two kettles and heating a steam iron off the same extension lead, bad idea. Blows the fuse in the extension lead. This proves the veracity of the concerns of the Portable Appliance testing man who came to our office last year, and expressed concern that the toaster, kettle and microwave all came from the same extension point. I had to put up a 'public service' notice warning people to have only one of the listed appliances plugged in at any one time.
The two kettles prove an interesting point. One belonged to my nearly-mother-in-law, reasonably expensive, flat element, 'fast boil'. The other belonged to us, exposed element and cost £9.99. Proof that you get what you pay for as the flat element kettle is about 50% faster. We've been able to donate our second kettle to the bathroom cause. We have had the hot water heater in the kitchen replaced. In a very old fashioned manner our kitchen has no hot tap, but an electric heater on the wall which heats water. This was probably as old as the defunct boiler (and our gas cooker) and broke down a few years back. Initially we weren't sure if you could even replace such an appliance; and then we found out that you could... well it just never happened. Our plumber (who is possibly the best plumber in the world) came on Friday (several days early) and fitted it. And gave Rich a crash course in basic maintenance (even though it would have paid him not to, so we'd have to call him out). The man is a gem. He's even in my address book. I've recommended him to all my friends and family who live nearby!
I also popped into the garden for a little post-winter maintenance. Pulled the netting on the fish pond out of the water (I even saw Jaws and some of his little friends lurking about). Picked up all the bits on the patio that had fallen over and untangled the beaded curtain on the door (which after about three years definitely needs replacing).
Oh, and I ironed all the clothes that were clean - ready for another week. The only problem is that the clothes that aren't clean can't be washed until the boiler is fixed as there is nowhere in this ice-box that is our house to dry them. C'est la vie. If I run out of shirts I'll just do what I do when I can't be bothered to iron... pop out and buy some more!