I have mentioned in earlier posts the problems we've had with the gas boiler in this house. Several years ago the landlord had to put in a new one. Reluctantly, I would say, because he doesn't like spending money! In all the time we've lived in this house, he hasn't done a single bit of maintenance. We had to sort out the garden fence, if you recall. The old fence just fell apart. There was absolutely nothing which could be done with what was left. The side fence, to the right, blew over in a strong wind. Fortunately it wasn't our responsibility and the council (who own the house next door.) had it replaced with a very substantial piece of fence. The fence on the left, which is our legal responsibility (no, that's not true. As tenants it's actually the landlord's responsibility.) But we shared the cost with our neighbours, Garry and Shelly, and they managed to get a fence panel to replace old crumbling piece of fence.
Last night (Sunday) I wanted to have a hot bath. My one luxury! I began to run the water, but it was cold! I was certain there was sufficient on the pre-payment meter. But it was obvious that it wasn't. There was no way I could get top-up for the gas meter. It's a bit of an effort to check the meter. It's in the bin cupboard at the front of the house, which means you need to have something to stand on (we have a step stool which we got from IKEA for this job.) and it's not that easy to get to the meter which is at the back of the cupboard and you put your life in peril by having to lean precariously on the stool, put the yellow gas card into the slot in the meter and press the appropriate button on the confounded meter and wait to see what money is left on the thing on the digital display. This is a fairly easy job to do if it's daylight, but almost impossible if it's nighttime and dark. I attempted to use my iPhone as a source of light, but it didn't really work. If the credit has run out, you can have £5 emergency top-up until you can go to a convenient shop which will allow you to pay for top-up to be put on the card. Then, if you've used any of the £5 emergency credit, the meter deducts however much of the emergency credit you've used from the amount you've put on the card when you bought it at whichever shop you've been to to top-up the card. (Sorry that this is so convoluted but that's how it is unfortunately.) I went to the Eaglestone shop just after 7a.m. to put on £20 of credit on the gas card. I came back home and went out to the bin cupboard to put the credit on the meter but wasn't sure whether it had worked. It was still relatively dark so it was difficult to see the digital display on the meter. You have to turn off the boiler before putting credit on the meter, which I had before going to the shop. The thing worked! Thank goodness. Which meant I could have a shave and then take Alfie out for his walk. He had waited patiently for me to take him. I can't begin my day without having a shave. I've always been like that. I don't know why, but there it is. A good wash with hot water and soap and a wet shave and I'm fine. I can't be bothered with an electric shaver. They never shave properly and I'd probably have to have a second shave later in the day.
Well, mid-morning a van drew up outside the house. It was the gas engineer coming to check the boiler. As it turned out, the thing was fine. He told me that there was no possibility of dangerous fumes coming into the house. Modern gas boilers vent their fumes out through the flue which sticks out through a hole in the wall, and if there was a problem the boiler would shut down automatically, which was a good thing to know. It now has it's safety certificate for another year so I don't need to worry about it, thank goodness.
Last night (Sunday) I wanted to have a hot bath. My one luxury! I began to run the water, but it was cold! I was certain there was sufficient on the pre-payment meter. But it was obvious that it wasn't. There was no way I could get top-up for the gas meter. It's a bit of an effort to check the meter. It's in the bin cupboard at the front of the house, which means you need to have something to stand on (we have a step stool which we got from IKEA for this job.) and it's not that easy to get to the meter which is at the back of the cupboard and you put your life in peril by having to lean precariously on the stool, put the yellow gas card into the slot in the meter and press the appropriate button on the confounded meter and wait to see what money is left on the thing on the digital display. This is a fairly easy job to do if it's daylight, but almost impossible if it's nighttime and dark. I attempted to use my iPhone as a source of light, but it didn't really work. If the credit has run out, you can have £5 emergency top-up until you can go to a convenient shop which will allow you to pay for top-up to be put on the card. Then, if you've used any of the £5 emergency credit, the meter deducts however much of the emergency credit you've used from the amount you've put on the card when you bought it at whichever shop you've been to to top-up the card. (Sorry that this is so convoluted but that's how it is unfortunately.) I went to the Eaglestone shop just after 7a.m. to put on £20 of credit on the gas card. I came back home and went out to the bin cupboard to put the credit on the meter but wasn't sure whether it had worked. It was still relatively dark so it was difficult to see the digital display on the meter. You have to turn off the boiler before putting credit on the meter, which I had before going to the shop. The thing worked! Thank goodness. Which meant I could have a shave and then take Alfie out for his walk. He had waited patiently for me to take him. I can't begin my day without having a shave. I've always been like that. I don't know why, but there it is. A good wash with hot water and soap and a wet shave and I'm fine. I can't be bothered with an electric shaver. They never shave properly and I'd probably have to have a second shave later in the day.
Well, mid-morning a van drew up outside the house. It was the gas engineer coming to check the boiler. As it turned out, the thing was fine. He told me that there was no possibility of dangerous fumes coming into the house. Modern gas boilers vent their fumes out through the flue which sticks out through a hole in the wall, and if there was a problem the boiler would shut down automatically, which was a good thing to know. It now has it's safety certificate for another year so I don't need to worry about it, thank goodness.
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