Sunday, February 27, 2011

Worse Things Happen at Sea..............


Hello, my dear Bloggeroos!

As promised, here is my tale of the water leak in my kitchen.

(Oh! How exciting!)

So, there I was, doing last minute checks before going on one of my much anticipated visits to see my son Phil, his missus Claire and my grandchildren, Hollie and Jayden.


So, my packing was done.

Windows checked.

Boiler turned off.

I went into the kitchen to empty the rubbish bin.

It was then I noticed a small puddle on the floor. I took a closer look.





It looked like there was a tiny drip from the middle of my water meter under the worktop.

"Well, flippin' 'eck!" I said to myself. (or something like that.)


It was the tiniest of drips, and I didn't want to miss my train.

I went upstairs and found the largest bath sheet I own, and dropped it on the floor beneath the drip.

"That'll do it."



How wrong could I be?

On my return a few days later, the leak had got worse.........







Well....no.......it wasn't quite that bad! But the carpet tiles were defying gravity and bobbed along on half an inch of water!


I rang the Water Company. Leaks on or before the meter are their responsibility.

Leaks after the meter are mine.

They promised to come within the next few hours.

I fetched a mop and bucket and relevant equipment.









After clearing up most of the water, I noticed that the leak was dripping from a joint to the side of the meter. (i.e. a joint that was my responsibility.)

My youngest son is plumber, but he lives 200 miles away!

I thought that I'd have a go at fixing it, and then ring the Water Company and cancel their visit.

I went to get my grips.................




Not KIRBY grips, a pair of these.....................








I put the grips on the joint and tried to turn it. Now, it's a well known fact that I'm a bit weak in the wrist. (I'm also a bit weak in the head too, but you knew that, right?)

Oh no, I couldn't turn it...........I'm gonna have to call a plumber.........that's gonna cost me money, ouch!







At that very moment, there was a knock at the door. The man from the Water Company had already arrived.

Some of you know that I have a few health problems.

Sometimes I need to use a walking stick.

I always try to remain positive and live as normal a life as I possibly can.

Normally, I would never use my illness as an excuse for not doing something I'm capable of, or to
use it to my advantage.

Until now.............

In a flash of inspiration, before opening the front door, I grabbed my stick.





I let the Water Man in and walked slowly, using my stick, through to the kitchen with him following me.

"I was just about to ring you," I said. "I'm not sure it is at that meter now I've cleaned up most of the water."

"Don't worry, Missus. I think I can see the problem." he said.

I used to be a bit of an actor.

I conjured up the best "sad old woman face" I could muster...........





"You'll have to bill me for this, right?" I asked with a quiver in my voice..........





"Don't worry, love," he said.

"It only took a couple of minutes. I won't charge you. The office don't know where the leak was." said the Water Man.

I can't believe I did that!



Still to come................................

More Celebrity lookalikes in my family.............

.............and here's a couple of sneak preview photo's from Mumsie and Daddio's 60th Wedding Anniversary Party.





Mum encouraging Auntie Moo to get with the beat!




Mum and Dad really enjoying themselves!

I'll be back soon..........

Take Care!

7 comments:

Rose H (UK) said...

Oh! What a bug**r! Hope there isn't too much damagaed. I'm so pleased that your leak was sorted out by a very, very nice man....are you sure it wasn't a plumber from the AA?!

(Word verification to post this comment believe it or not - 'undry' LOL)

Sandi said...

Hehe, you are so funny, what a lovely man to do that for you. I don't know how they get away with charging so much in the first place, except they can because we need things fixed.
Love the photo's, wish my mum was full of life like yours !! x Sandi

KC'sCourt! said...

Glad the very nice man fixed it for you free of charge.
Julie xxxxxx

VintageWantsNotNeeds said...

Glad to hear your water problems are sorted. That just goes to show that there are some good folk left out there - one of life's gents I think you will agree.

Autumn Mist said...

It may have been time to call in your Tena Lady sponsorship money, oh no, sorry, wrong kind of leak!

Flaming Nora said...

Good for you! Freebies like that don't happen that often, milk it for all its worth. Thats what I say!

BadPenny said...

Bravo !
I felt like saying to my vet the other day, " How do you sleep at night ?" Two seconds, one injection, sixty quid ! Afterwards I thought of loads of things like check my dog's ears, teeth, heart etc to at least feel like it was worth sixty squid !