Washing Machine . . . Sorted!

At last! The washing-machine is working! It has taken very nearly a week to get the thing up-and running, but it at last means things can return to some sort of normal, if that is at all possible. Someone came from Anglia Water to check out where exactly the water turned off in the street. It's where you'd expect it to be, directly in front of the house under a little man-hole cover (crazy, as a man would never get down it!) and so we now know where to turn off the water if we need to. As it turns out, we don't need to turn it off to repair the plumbing, as you'll discover as I continue with this post.

I got a call from our landlord around 11 a.m. yesterday to say he was sending someone to 'look at' the washing-machine and the problem caused. He said this person would arrive at around 12 noon. The time came and went and nobody had arrived, so I was thinking, no we're going to have those two clowns back on Monday sometime, messing around attempting to sort the plumbing out, not having the slightest idea what on earth they were doing.

At around 4.30-5.00 p.m. I get a call from a man who says he's a plumber, and something to do with the rental agency, and can he come and have a look at the situation regarding the washing-machine? I say, yes he can, and he say's he'll be there in around half-an-hour. He turns up, carrying a proper tool-kit and far more clued up as regards what to do than the landlord and his 'assistant'. He manages to turn off the water WITHOUT going into the street, and has the job done within 30 minutes and we had the washing-machine in it's correct place under the work-surface and working properly! Job done and thank's for your effort! I reckon the landlord's wife must have said something to him, as regards doing a botched job, and to get someone on the job who had some idea of what they were doing so as not to cause any further damage. As it is, the washing-machine, when it was on spin last Saturday afternoon and more or less 'bounced' all over the place, damaged the flooring. All due to incompetence and, basically because certain people didn't want to spend out on doing the job properly in the first place.

Washing Machine Fun!

 I think you may have realised that the title of this post has a sort of ironic ring about it.

 Yesterday, mid-morning, I eventually got a phone call from the rental agency, after I'd phoned earlier in the morning and said that if something drastic wasn't done regarding the flooded kitchen and the non-installation of the washing machine, to be told that 'someone would be coming at 6 p.m.' I wasn't going to hold my breath as regards things being repaired, and, as it turned out, I was right, because as 6 p.m. rolled round and by five-past nobody had arrived, I was still believing that nobody would, when I looked out of the window to see Carol chatting to our beloved landlord. I was expecting the plumber who had come out earlier in the week, and when he told me he was expecting the young man who'd caused the problems in the first place, my heart sank (as I think it did with Carol, also.) He eventually arrived, so I decided to remain in the lounge watching television as I was quite prepared to say something about the mess that had been caused.

They went off to the D.I.Y. store, most likely B and Q or Homebase, who both have warehouse stores within a short distance of here, with Carol and I in total disbelief. They had really got no idea what they were doing, or were about to do. Neither had any genuine experience of plumbing, so goodness knows what mess they are going to make. We were somehow  imagined that we were going to have the plumber who came during the week to look at the situation, or at least another plumber who knew what he was doing. But, no. Just our beloved landlord too mean to spend out on a plumber and get the job done properly.

I expected them to come back with a load of bits and pieces of pipe, to replace what had been damaged. They told us that we couldn't touch the water supply to the house outside in the street, that Anglia Water would need to come and check out the supply and then turn it off (and charge some excessive amount to do so, apparently, but I can't see why. Just another ploy to make money.) The landlord and his 'assistant' had no idea about any of this and were, I assume, given this advice by staff at the D.I.Y. store. The Landlord then said he'd phone Anglia Water, which he did, and rang later to tell me that Anglia Water would send someone out today (Friday) to give their advice as to turning off the water so that work could be done on the repair in the kitchen. And none of this can be done until Monday, so we'll be without the washing-machine for another couple of days, with the water dripping and the task of us having to empty buckets, bowls etc every couple of hours. This is gradually turning into one of those comedys, starring such people as Michael Crawford or Norman Wisdom. Yes, certainly my thoughts tht 'Some Mother's Do 'Ave 'Em'!