Wet and Cold

 Tuesday. 3.25 p.m. I wasn't going to keep this blog going over the Christmas period, but I now think I will write something. It has been raining continuously since early this morning. It hasn't been heavy rain, but thin and miserable nonetheless. I have taken Alfie out several times, but whenever he discovers it's raining, he turns tail and returns indoors. I can't blame him.

Wednesday. 3.35 p.m. Not a particularly exciting day today. It has been a good deal milder than of late. The sun even shone, which always lifts my mood. The last couple of days have been overcast and gloomy, which is definitely par for the course in late December.  I will be glad when Christmas is over, basically because when Carol was around things were busy, with us going out to visit such places as Waddesdon Manor, where they always put on some sort of extra effort with decorations in the manor and a Christmas market within the grounds. 

I have now watched the final episode of 'The Crown.' I have seen all six seasons of the Netflix series. I have to say, the final season wasn't up to the high standard of the earlier seasons. It seemed to run out of steam and I think they should have ended it with the fifth season. For all that, it had extremely high production values, such as sets, costumes, photography and so on. You could definitely see where the budget was spent. 

Thursday. 8.50 a.m. I am about to go to Sainsbury's to do a bit of shopping. I'm rather concerned that it might be extremely busy, considering we are only days away from Christmas. 

The weather has done another flip. From bright and sunny yesterday morning, to wet and windy this morning.

1.55 p.m. I went to Sainsbury's. I picked up everything I wanted, which was on a list. I would have preferred to have used a manned till to complete my shop, but, as usual, there was one of these tills open, but it had a long queue of customers waiting. I was left with no alternative, and so regrettably went to use a self-service till. All went well to start off, scanning each item and placing them in my shopping bags. But on three occasions the confounded thing stopped working, for the slightest fault, and I had to get assistance. This is why I don't like using self-service tills; they keep on breaking down, and you have to wait for assistance from a member of staff.

3.50 p.m. We've had a tea party here at Dexter House. As we sat and stuffed our faces with mince-pies and drank tea, a raffle was drawn, with the proceeds going to Willen Hospice. I have won a battery-operated fan, which will be useful in the summer when we get warm weather.

Friday. 10.30 a.m. It's my turn with the washing machine. I had my laundry ready and in the machine at around 7.40. I am supposed to start it at 8, but I'm not very good when it comes to waiting. I went back an hour later, to discover the machine stopped and nothing to indicate it was working, whether it had finished the wash cycle, with the clothes rinsed. The door wouldn't open as it should. As you can imagine, I wasn't a happy bunny, because I wanted my clothes out and in the drier. My only answer to the problem was to ring Mears, who are responsible for maintenance at Dexter House. I went back to my flat and rang their number. I'm sorry to say, I wasn't polite to the woman I spoke to, although I did apologize. She was going to email Vashti, the S.H.O., to see if she would be able to get the washing machine opened. I was concerned that, if the clothes were left inside the washing machine, wet. If they were left long enough, they would get mouldy and I would be without anything clean to wear. Well, that isn't exactly correct, I do have SOME clean clothes. It was because everything will close down over the Christmas and New Year period and nothing would be done about the washing machine. The woman I spoke to told me it 'wasn't an emergency.' Well, it wasn't a life-and-death matter I suppose, but to me, it was an emergency.

I returned to the washing machine, and it was working! Apparently, there had been a power cut, but then I discovered that there were workmen in Dexter House, and they'd turned off the power! But nobody told me, hence the situation with the washing machine. I managed to get the clothes spun and when the cycle was over, I put the clothes in the tumble drier and the situation was resolved.

Life's Little Irritations

What sort of irritations am I referring to? One I can mention is, during the summer, such as now, when we have warm weather, when we have the windows open to cool the house, you get bees and other flying insects coming in. Then they get stuck, trying to get out again, attempting to get through the glass of the window, not realising that you can't get through glass, and then, when you open the window wider to let the thing out, it refuses point blank to go out through the open window! Then the flitting and buzzing they make continues unabated and there seems to be nothing you can do to relieve it.

You put dirty laundry on in the washing machine. The machine finishes it's cycle, you hang the washing out to dry, and almost every time, no matter what you do, you find you have one lone sock that hasn't gone in the machine with it's partner. Invariably you get that one lone sock at the end of the wash-cycle, even when you go to put them in your sock drawer. WHY does this happen? How many odd, lone socks do I now possess? Or you go to put on clean socks in the morning, take out what you imagine to be a matching pair and then you find they don't actually match? Does it matter? Who's going to see they don't match? Nobody. It really doesn't matter. You probably don't realise until the night, when you change to go to bed. You then discover they don't match. Oh well, just another of life's little mysteries.

You go to the supermarket and spend a lot of time going round the store, putting items into your trolley. Once completed, you go to the checkout and load your items onto the conveyor belt. This takes some considerable time, but then the checkout malfunctions so you have to spend even more time taking each item off the conveyor belt and moving to another working check-out. Time and energy wasted. This invariably happens at one of those self-serve check-outs. As I've probably mentioned in an earlier blog post, it's bound to be the only one of these check-outs that is available as all the others are occupied and you've probably had to queue to get on one of them. The other similar event is when you need to use a lift, usually to get down to the carpark after you've done your shopping and then have an extremely full trolley. You go to use the lift, no doubt the other lift (there's usually two lifts, the other being in use, or out of service. Then you get in the lift, it's extremely full with other shoppers and their trolleys. Then, on attempting to press the button for your floor, the lift won't move, it's also out of order and it takes some time to extricate yourself from the lift and the have to push your trolley down to the carpark, going down various ramps and walk-ways.

Okay, I know what you're thinking. 'He's written about 'Life's Little Irritations' in earlier posts, under 'niggles.' Well, yes, perhaps I have. I have to admit that I find some 'niggles' in everyday life. I'm sure we all have in some way shape or form. I could go on. So I will.

Bottles and tubes that are difficult to open. Think those bottles that liquid hand-soap comes in. Those annoying pumps that come locked when you buy them. You're supposed to twist the pump to release the thing and they invariably refuse to unlock. Those plastic packets of various products, such as sweets, that you're supposed to get into by tearing across the top, but never do. You end up having to use scissors to cut the packet open.

How about traffic lights? How long should they remain on red? In Milton Keynes we have very few. The ones near Sainsbury's do seem to take an age to change to green. There isn't that much traffic to let through, so why does it take so long? Are they set at a certain length of time? Do they alter the length on how much traffic moves past? Some sort of computer system that measures the amount of traffic and alters the timing accordingly?

Ticket machines, in carparks particularly. You have to put coins in said machine, you hunt through your pockets for the correct amount and then put these in the slot in the machine. The whole lot fall through and come out of the slot at the bottom of the machine. You have a £1 coin, the new style coin. The machine refuses to accept it. It also falls through. You would assume that all the parking  ticket machines would have been adapted to take the new-style coins. But no . . .

1000th Post

So, this is it. I've managed to write 1000 blog posts. Quite amazing when I come to think of it. So, what shall I write?

We have another mystery. The light on the landing in this house hasn't worked in ages, so we have to be careful when it's dark at night, for example, going to bed or getting to the bathroom. But a couple of days ago it suddenly came on. But then it doesn't work if you turn it off at either the switch at the bottom of the stares or on the wall on the landing. I imagined it might have been the bulb that needed replacing. One of those economy bulbs which are gradually replacing traditional bulbs. But it never worked. So I imagined it must have been a loose connection somewhere. The double switch at the foot of the stairs have been wired up the wrong way round. It would be common sense, surely, if there are double switches, to have the upstairs light operated from the left switch that is placed closer to that light and the switch that operates the hall light operated by the switch placed left, or closer to that light. But no. Whoever was responsible for maintenance for this house (our beloved landlord) has no idea how to do these basic jobs properly. It's the same for the taps on the various sinks, the bath, in the house. That means that the right tap (red) is hot and the left (blue) tap is for cold water. Just a slight niggle, but so annoying. None of the cupboards in the kitchen are hung properly so they don't close as they should. I know it can sometimes be just a matter of tightening up the hinges (common to most kitchen units) but they couldn't do the job properly so we have to put up with this sort of annoyance. Then the washing machine has to be operated using a cable from an electric socket in the hall and it makes me ask the obvious question: why doesn't the washing machine have it's own electrical point so we don't have to use a trailing cable to use it? There must have been sockets for this purpose (the other probably for a tumble-drier) as they were there once upon a time but have been blocked off. Why? it really makes no sense, particularly as it's a health and safety issue. We could get electric shock or else we could trip over the trailing cable. But does our landlord care? I really don't think so. I don't even imagine he is even aware of this issue.

House Inspection Pending

We received a telephone call from our belovéd landlord the other evening. He's coming to visit. It's the annual inspection of the house. Instead of agreeing to him coming the next day, we told a little fib and said we were going on holiday (this was last Tuesday.) and that we wouldn't be back for a week. In fact, this gives us ample time to get the house clean and ready for his gracious arrival on Saturday evening. There can't be much to give him concern (apart from the roof of the garden shed, the fact that we've replaced the fridge/freezer and the washing machine. The fridge/freezer was replaced last year, which was recorded in one of these posts, and it was here when he last visited (around a year ago. The floor upstairs near the bathroom and the fact we spent our own cash on having the garden fence replaced and the plumbing done under the sink when we had a leak when the washing machine was being used) so he must have seen the fridge/freezer and not been aware. In fact I doubt very much if he even noticed that the thing wasn't the same one which was here when we moved in around six years ago. Not exactly the brightest button in the box, our landlord. Still, he does at least leave us alone, even though he isn't keen on spending anything on th house which might improve things. Never mind. We have begun our cleaning and this morning we have spent some time weeding the front area of the house outside which has got very over grown. I chopped down a rather nasty tree which keeps growing outside the front door and used the lopper I bought from Wickes for the purpose.

Non-Existent Customer Service at Currys/PCWorld

As I've posted a few days ago, we had problems with our washing machine. Not really a surprise when you come to consider how our beloved landlord had it installed (see earlier post.) We went to Curry's in an attempt to purchase a new one. I do on-line surveys and had redeemed vouchers to the value of £140 which we wanted to put towards a new machine. We had visited Currys/PC World at their Elder Gate branch in Milton Keynes a week or so back because it was going to take at least a week for the vouchers to arrive and to have a look at what they had on offer. This company seems to have a very poor reputation as regards customer care/service. In some respects it's non-existant. They are probably the last company where you can go to find domestic appliances in a warehouse retail environment, although it's easy enough to buy products like this online. We had even gone to their website to have a look, particularly at availability as the current washing machine needs replacing immediately and we need to do some washing fairly rapidly. The old machine won't spin properly, so that, at the end of a wash cycle you are left with a load which is totally sopping wet. All very well when the weather is fine and sunny as it is at the moment, but how do you dry clothes this wet when it's cold and wet outside and have to resort to drying things on radiators and clothes dryers. Not very convenient if those clothes are wringing wet.

We drove over to the Currys/PCWorld branch at Elder Gate. It was around 9.15 a.m. There appeared to be very few customers in the store. We went directly to the washing machine area. We had decided when we visited a week or so ago that we'd have a Hoover model and had intended ordering it there and then, part-paying for it with the vouchers which came in the post yesterday. No staff came towards us as we browsed, as we looked at other washing machines in the display, but the price of the Hoover model suited our budget. The a male assistant appeared, but as soon as we said we were interested in buying a machine he disappeared, saying he'd get another assistant to help with our enquiries. Then a female assistant appeared. When we asked if we could buy this particular Hoover washing machine she said she would have to look at their computer to find out whether one was in stock. It soon turned out that they didn't have one in stock and they weren't expecting another delivery until Friday. It would be another two days after that before we could have it delivered and plumbed in as well as having the old washing machine removed. She made absolutely no effort to offer us an alternative model at a similar price nor did she attempt to find out stock levels. So we left somewhat annoyed. It was at this point that Carol decided we should complain. When we returned home we found Currys/PCWorld's phone number on their website and after around 10 minutes waiting in a queue I spoke to an agent and I told him the problem we had endured in their store in Milton Keynes. He was very apologetic when I explained how our enquiry had been handled. He said he would pass on our complaint to the manager of the store and we would get a response when the complaint had been dealt with. So I await some sort of feedback. We mentioned how we wanted to buy a washing machine and he said any machines which were in stock would be shown online. Carol found a suitable model which appeared to be in stock and available for delivery (something which should have been apparent to the in-store staff, but wasn't.) Carol began to order it through the website but when she came to enter the long line of digits on the vouchers she couldn't get it to work. So we decided to return to the Currys/PCWorld branch, somewhat reluctantly it has to be said since we had put in our complaint. On returning we went to the customer service desk where a lone lady was on duty. She didn't seem to know exactly how to make the transaction on her computer and needed to be shown by the manager of the store. Not exactly helping with our trust in the company. Eventually the transaction was made and we will have the new washing machine, a Kenwood, delivered and installed on Sunday. We were further annoyed when it turned out we would have to pay delivery when it had said it was free on the website but we managed to get it free. We also added extended warranty for the machine in case it breaks down. We have this for our fridge/freezer (the old one broke down and began defrosting when we were out visiting Twycross Zoo, you may recall if you read my earlier blog post.) But I'm afraid this whole incident has put us off buying anything further from this particular company.

When we walk out of the store and into the carpark, there is a lady about to get into her car, parked near us. She is carrying a pile of shoe boxes. It's evident that she's been to Brantano, the shoe store, which is a few units along from Currys/PCWorld. They have a sale on and she tells us she always buys her shoes in Brantanos sale. We discuss our recent trip to the Doc Marten factory shop in Wollaston where we have bought shoes for really low prices. She hasn't heard of this and says she will have to visit. We mention our recent experiences in Currys and she says she never shops there because of their non existent customer care. It seems the store has a really bad reputation. I don't personally blame the staff. I think the company needs to train their staff better. It seems none of them have any idea how to deal with customers. If you have a customer who is eager to buy a product you don't let them walk out of the store until they have bought something. That is surely a bad salesman or woman. If they can't get a sale then they're not doing their job properly. It seems the first assistant had no idea how to keep a customer. If they could't get the product we wanted she should have made some effort to find out and it was more than annoying that we did eventually manage to find what we wanted through their website.

Dog-Walking, Lawn-Mowing and other Trivial Pursuits

Well, it's now a good deal cooler. We have had some rain, although hardly storm conditions. Certainly enough to lay the dust and freshen the atmosphere. The dogs have had three walks this week. One along the Redway and back along the Grand Union Canal and a couple of rounds of Eaglestone Park. Alfie is like one of those clockwork toys which you wind up and then let it go and it runs until the clockwork runs out. We let each dog off their leads once we reach the open area of grass and Alfie runs off madly, but soon comes back when you call. He likes to know that we're not too far away. Poppy, on the other hand, just potters along. She's really showing her age. But come across another dog and she has to run up to it and make friends. Alfie charges in, no questions asked, and the other dog is taken by surprise. We attempt to get them back on their leads, but it can be a difficulty. Try to get Poppy to respond and she does the opposite. Stubborn little minx that she is. 

I have managed to get the grass cut. Done last Friday. Just as well I did it when it was dry because I certainly wouldn't be able to cut it when it was wet. It would clog up the mower. 

I mentioned that our Hoover packed up a few weeks ago. It has now been replaced by a Vax model. Actually far more efficient in comparison to the Hoover. But now the washing machine has gone into decline. I think I've mentioned this on this blog before. It just will not spin. So we are looking at replacing it. We've been to Curry's to look at a replacement. It is actually owned by our landlord, but considering how long it's likely to take for him to replace the said washing machine, it is easier for us to do this ourselves. You may recall, if you've been following this blog, what happened when he replaced the last machine a couple of years ago and how his so called 'friend' came to install it and over-looked the fact that you had to remove the transit bolts which hold the drum inside the machine and how the machine behaved when it was turned on, pulling out the plumbing from the wall and fracturing the piping and so causing a leak which took some time to be repaired. So much for using unreliable workmen who have absolutely no idea what they're doing. We had to get this damage repaired ourselves at our own expense. Hopefully, we can buy the new washing machine next week and have it installed and the old machine removed .

Plumber . . . No Show

We were supposed to have had the plumber come this morning to fix the leak and replace the piping behind the washing machine (as mentioned in an earlier post on here.) When nobody appeared by 10 a.m. I was told that they were held up at another job and would be with me later. But then someone appeared and told me they wouldn't be coming after all and said they'd get here tomorrow morning. So, still unable to use the washing machine or do washing-up properly without the water running on the floor. We'll just have to manage for a further day until it is done tomorrow.

No sooner had I been told that the plumbing work wasn't going to be done until tomorrow (Friday) than I decided I wanted to go and get something to eat from Waitrose or Sainsbury's. Then I saw, by   looking out of the kitchen window, that I wasn't going to be able to reverse out of the parking space because there was a car immediately behind, parked in the way, with a woman talking to another two in the road. They were deep in conversation, totally oblivious to what was going on around them and unaware that they were blocking in our car. I thought they'd be gone in a few minutes, but even after a good twenty minutes, they were still there, continuing their discussion. I began to think I wasn't going to be able to get out, so stayed in the house and made myself something to eat without going anywhere. They did eventually move away, but even then it didn't seem in the least bit conscious that someone was needing to reverse out of their parking space.

I'm steadily transferring my hand-written material onto word processing. It takes a long time. I can do about 20 minutes at a stretch in one session.

It's quite chilly this morning. Dry, but deceptively warm, but it's cold.

Repaired Fence and Leaking Washing Machine

We are supposed to be having the fence repaired today at long  last. Well, we found someone through the internet who could do the work for us. As I write this at 8.50 there is no sign of the man. We have even been to the A.T.M. to take out the cash to pay for it. So, when is he going to appear? I wait with baited breath, because, if you've followed this blog for any length of time, you will know that this matter has been a cause for some sort of concern for quite a while. Even when we were with Smartmove, the rental agency, someone had come to have a look at the fence with a view to having it all repaired. That was a good FIVE YEARS ago, and the state of the fence is, well, words fail me. I have even been out with the new Canon digital camera and taken some photographs so we can have 'before and after' shots when the work is completed. If it's completed, because I was expecting the workman to be here by now. At least by 9 o'clock.

Then there's the other problem. I did two loads of washing on Monday, and after the second load, I discovered some water on the floor near the machine. In the slot where the recycling bin and rubbish bin stands. I have a sneaking suspicion that it's coming from the outflow pipe because it has a really poor connection with the pipe which takes the waste water from the sink and the washing machine. It looks like a really botched, amateurish job, no doubt done by our landlord who has to get the cheapest job on this sort of thing. Which means that it will cause the sort of problem I have already described. Just to save a couple of pounds. So, I have someone coming later in the morning, again, found through the internet. Never mind. These things are sent to cause us the most problems. Just have to sort it out even though it is the landlord's job to get it fixed. If I had rung him, it would be days before it was done and we need to use the washing machine again soon.

It's now 9.03 and still no sign of the fence man. Is he going to turn up? Keep reading to find out. The excitement is too much.

I have put the dogs in our bedroom because I don't want a repeat of what happened when the workmen came to replace the boiler and Alfie got out. He was easy to get into the room upstairs, but Poppy, being her usual stubborn self, refused to comply. I had to pick her up and carry her. But least they are in there and safe until the work is done. That is if it is done. I do hope so.

The workmen arrived a few minutes later. Three of them. As I write this they are carrying fence panels around to the rear of he house.

It turns out that they also do plumbing and one of the men has been looking at the plumbing behind the sink and the washing machine and what he has said about it is worrying, to say the least. The piping needs replacing. Another botched job in order to save a few pounds. It must be done, so I will have to get them to come back at a later date. It isn't actually the washing machine which is leaking. It's because there is a back-up of water and muck caught in the pipes because there is insufficient fall to allow the water to drain away as it should.

I have had another plumber come and look at the leaking pipe, as contacted earlier this morning. He had a look and now tells me it should be dealt with by the company who installed the new boiler. So I have rung them and they should come and look at the problem and should repair it for nothing as it's their fault there is a leak. I'm somewhat annoyed that the joint (where the boiler is plumbed into the outflow pipe) is so poorly finished hence the leak.

Some time later. The gas boiler fitter came out and looked at the leaking problem and then said that the pipe is most likely blocked. I'm not surprised, looking at the weird arrangement of plumbing. It needs to be unblocked. It is the pressure of any water building up inside, and particularly when the washing machine is emptying, which is putting a strain on the joint which is where the leak is coming from. So it looks as if I'll have to ring our landlord and get him to find a plumber himself to sort this thing out. I only know that he's going to get a cheap job just to save money, but without the thing fixed we can't use the washing machine which is really out of the question.

Now that the fence is restored to some sort of normality, we're intrigued by Alfie's reaction to it. He went out as soon as the workmen had left and he had to go out and see what all the fuss and commotion was about. He had been in the bedroom with Poppy but couldn't see anybody but could obviously hear. He stood and looked at the fence and seemed to be saying 'What's that thing? It wasn't there yesterday. I seem to remember I could see things through there.' Very comical, to say the least. And he keeps on going out and staring at it. A Very sharp little dog is Alfie.

Workmen Repair Neighbour's Fence

I have been indoors for most of the morning. Working on this blog mostly. Did some washing-up and other things when I heard this noise outside. As we're used to strange sounds from one side, Gary doing D.I.Y., drilling, lawn-mowing, trimming, hammering etc., there didn't seem anything odd about it. But it being a Monday, it seemed even more odd as he would have been at work. I just thought I'd look out of the window to see what the noise was, along with some music, from a radio I presumed, and saw a workman in our garden, digging a hole (the opposite neighbour to Gary and Michelle) the bit of fence which has been looking very un-fencelike for months, perhaps even years, having been removed and Marion (the neighbour that side of us) saying (when I went out to see what was going on) that they were from the Council and were replacing that particular bit of fence. Unfortunately they can't do our fence. When, I wonder, will our beloved landlord get someone to do the work? He keeps on saying that he has a 'friend' who can do it. But what has happened to this phantom 'friend"? If he can't be contacted, surely he could find someone else to do the work. The last time a so-called 'friend'  of his did some work for him in this house, look what happened- it was when the washing-machine was plumbed in. The idiot who did the work had no idea what he was doing. He didn't know that the transit bolts on the rear of the machine had to be removed before the thing was plumbed in. They are there to prevent the drum in the machine moving about when it's being moved and when I came to use the machine the thing came away from the unit it was fixed under and when it spun at speed it pulled away from the piping it was plumbed into and caused no end of damage which included a more or less permanent drip which wasn't repaired until we got a proper plumber in to repair the damage. Just get a professional do do the work. Not some botch-up boy. Anyway, not wishing to complain about the work, but it would have been nice if they'd come to our front door and told us what was going on, as it was something of a surprise, to say the least. The gas boiler still needs a safety certificate. Another thing that the landlord promised to get done but hasn't. It's now well over a year since he took over the management of this house but not having a gas safety certificate is illegal. I suppose he's trying to get another 'friend' to do this. They must be Corgi registered so no wide-boy amateur can do the work, or is supposed not to. I wonder if he's aware of that. I very much doubt it.

The fence was completed. I'm surprised how quickly the work was done and how thorough the workmen were, apart from leaving some of the bits of the old fence behind in our garden. Did they forget to take it, or was it that they couldn't get back into our garden once the new section was built? Perhaps. But it doesn't matter. I just wish the rest of our fence was repaired and to the same standard. The new section looks very solid and secure and it will take quite a strong wind to manage to blow it down like the old dilapidated fence was back in the winter.

Cold and Snow

It's a really cold morning. The snow is still hanging around. There's not as much snow and ice on the paths as Carol and I walk to the Academy. Yesterday it was quite slippery, particularly on the footbridge over Saxon Street. You had to be really careful, or you were in danger of falling over, which is something we want to avoid, considering how Carol hurt her hand. There are primroses blooming along the path near the Academy, a sign that spring is attempting to show itself, regardless of the prevailing weather conditions.

We have heard nothing as regards the cooker being fixed. We managed to make our evening meal yesterday without the use of the cooker. Just as well we had a microwave to cook part of the meal. I just hope our beloved landlord doesn't decide to try and fix the cooker himself, if what happened to the new washing machine is anything to go by (see earlier post regarding this.) If I don't hear anything from the agency by midday today I will ring again.

Why Aren't Things So Simple?- Adventures With A Washing Machine

Nothing goes according to plan, and nothing on earth is ever as simple as one might expect, and certainly not in the case of the new washing machine. I explained in the last blog that our landlord arrived yesterday with the new machine. He came with two young lads, presumably with the intention of using them to lift in the new washing machine and then take out the old one. Which they did. Nobody seemed to have the first idea how to actually disconnect the old machine from the water supply. As you may or may not know there is generally always a pipe which you connect to the water supply so that the machine will fill automatically from the house mains and another tube which takes the water OUT of the machine during it's operation. The landlord had absolutely no idea where the stop-cock was in the house so as to turn off the supply. Carol had to go next door and ask a neighbour, as all the houses along this road are identical. It turned out to be behind a panel in the downstairs toilet. Which was a surprise as we didn't know this. I really would have expected our landlord, of all people, to have known this sort of detail.

It was only the start of our problems. Unfortunately.

The young man who set up the washing machine didn't really have the first idea what he was doing. We left them to get on with it. After all, it was the landlord's machine and we were quite happy to watch them work. But the young man had absolutely no concept of which tube went where. Anyway, it was eventually done and they left, taking the old machine outside for the Council to collect (which reminds me that I must contact them on Monday morning so that the refuse collection department can take the  old machine away. It is now defunct so it's better for it to go for recycling.)

So, with the washing machine plumbed in and operating (or so I thought) I put in a load of washing.

Then the problems really began.

The cycle seemed to take a very long time to complete. Surely a wash cycle in an automatic washing machine should take no more than an hour? Or so I would imagine. It was still going around 2 hours later. It then went into the final spin, and I was upstairs when it began, and thought to myself, 'good, at least we'll have some clean clothes at long last.' I came downstairs in the middle of the spin and the machine had moved out at a 45-degree angle from the work surface. Not what you expect to happen. I thought at first that Carol had pulled out the machine, but it seemed unlikely. The machine then went into full spin mode and it was getting faster and faster. It was really getting dangerous.

We had to stop the thing somehow or other and so we pressed the 'off'' button which got the spin cycle to slow down and eventually stop. We then discovered that the tube that brought the water into the machine from the mains supply was leaking badly, so we had to attempt to shut off the water. But no amount of effort would shut it off completely and there was a really bad drip coming from the connection, which meant we had to put the washing-up bowl under the connection to collect the water. We had to empty this several times as it filled up really fast. Also, we attempted to turn off the water supply at the stop-cock, but this would not shut off completely. Of course, all this meant that we couldn't do any washing up, or have the central heating on, flush the toilets, have shaves and so it went on. All this because that incompetent person thought they knew how to fit the washing-machine.

As a further result of all this, the machine has torn the floor-covering when in it's fastest spin-mode.

We learned, having attempted to stop the drips, that when they came to plumb in the machine they didn't remove the restraining bolts in the back of the machine, which are there to prevent the drum from revolving and causing damage during transit and hadn't set up the feet so that the machine was level. It's a wonder we didn't have serious damage to the machine as a result of all this, even a fire or the machine exploding.

Anyway, we have been without running water since Saturday late afternoon, the kitchen is in a mess because we can't use any water and I've been told by the rental agency that they must contact the landlord before they can rectify all these problems. So it's likely to be a couple more days before a competent plumber is called out to do the work required.