...(cont from previous entry)…
Nice one. He also muttered darkly about the lead in general. The pipes had might go at any moment & all that sort of crap. Thinking about it – he was most probably frightened of them. It’s curious to note that Hattie chose not to put any specialist lead to copper fittings there, but soldered the joins. The emergency plumber was unwilling to do any repair soldering because… he did not want any comeback that any work he might do may go wrong, or perhaps as well, he did not like the concept of lead pipes. His advise was to have them all ripped out as they were all rotten. Yes, well, he was a doom monger in general. In his line of work, I guess it pays to be. They should be replaced. – we would prefer it, but this is not something we have the means to do. He left it that there would be someone coming to assess the plumbing, & that they would most likely advise the need for replacement. Oh, & in his opinion the whole ceiling would need to go. Riiiight. I could even see that this was a highly dubious assertion. The paper on the ceiling had been damaged, but peeking thru a hole in the paper – the only thing that could be said to be wrong with the plaster was that it was still a little damp & it had a little crack in it.
So, after undermining our sensibility with his prophecies of doom, our cheery morbid hungover plumber was on his way. Caroline next door helped us with a ‘getting things into perspective’ type chat. We spoke to the people who had sent the plumber out & they felt no particular need to send anyone out to inspect the plumbing, so we await the return of Hattie from Spain to await the return of hot water to the house. Pan boiling & stair tramping to fill the bath for the kids on an evening is not such an onerous task.
Oh, & the store we bought the lights from yesterday called to advise thst they would, in fact be sending the lights out to us (as we fully expected) &they should arrive… in the next few days to a week.. or so (depending on how lethargic their post room is.
Stress at work yesterday. Still working like billio on our ‘support mailbox’ that is drowning in correspondence. Passed on an urgent query from last week to the technical manager, which caused ripples, as it should have been sent on…. last week. Another dissatisfied customer. Oh, & said technical manager actually shouted at me. I asked him a query from a customer on the phone that I could not answer. Typed it into the IRC channel that all the staff use to communicate & he was not looking, so I tried a few tricks to alert him, still nothing, so I resorted to leaving the phone & going into the next room where he sits to check he was there & point out I had a customer query – so he shouts “what is the question?!” – yeah – right. It’s in channel, but let me get back to my desk & I’ll type it again if you want. sheesh. Sure the customer heard his foolish bellowing. That makes the company look professional dunnit. That’s good for all round staff moral innit. Bloody fool. He has shouted at a couple of the other lads. as well. We all rant, rave & fulminate, but not directly at each other. There are common grounds of decency.
At home, the attic is on the home straight… it’s looking really good and Louise had some news for me when I got home yesterday, but perhaps more on that later.
Above going into work – now headed home.
Much better day at work – stress levels seem to be returning to normal.
He had green marker pen on his arm & face yesterday when he came home. A testament to the foolish over excitement that playing with his pal Tom Kelly produces. Tom is a little wild at the edges & Jack reflects it when he plays with him. He was none too appreciative of me rubbing off the marker in the bath that night. Fortunately it came off with basically little fuss, but I’m not sure Jack would agree on that one. Hopefully that will prove as a deterrent.
I’ve had my thrills over the past couple of days. I say an item on Ebay (Internet auctions) that I wanted as it would be useful (thinks I) – so I bid for it. I had a budget to keep to, & was well within that & the highest bidder for a good long while. Unfortunately the bidding closed after I left work (where I was keeping an eye on it) & I was outbid. But then the person who strategically outbid me was pipped within the final 30 seconds of the auction by someone else completely new to the bidding – which I thought very cheeky! Even if I had been watching the bidding, & seen that final (below my budget) bid, I don’t think I would have been able to do much about it. PAH!
I guess I’ll have to wait for other chances.