The Nightmare continues

Sitting here right now wishing I was a million miles away. I need to let off steam, everything imagineable that could go wrong seems to have. The last straw was yesterday afternoon when the plumbers thought they'd finished installing all the heaters and pipework etc. Switched the water back on (I'd had none all day) and suddenly a puddle appeared in the hall/bathroom doorway, which got progressively larger, until the carpet was soaked, and there was about an inch of water all over my bathroom floor. They had to take up my lino, and the half the hall carpet and then guess where the pipes ran under the concrete floor, and drill down till they found them. I had my very own fountain. Luckily they guessed right and a joint was leaking there because of the higher pressure on the hot water system caused by the new combi boiler. The pipes were probably the originals put in when the place was built, sometime in the 1950s. So I spent last night with a soaking wet hall, big hole in the bathroom floor and no hot water (which I wouldn't have had any way really until the electrician came back today to finish off the wiring)

I am sick of not being able to go to the loo because there is always someone and lots of tools either in the bathroom or in the loft from early morning.

I'm sick of not being able to do any washing. I've either got no water, no electric or it's pissing down with rain and nowhere to dry anything. I normally hang stuff over the bath but that's out of the question with guys in there all the time.

I made a huge mistake in deciding to have the kitchen floor done. We had to move everything out apart from the gas cooker which they wouldnt touch, I told them to just tuck the lino under a little way. Once the cooker was disconnected, they have to have a corgi registered person to come back to reconnect it. What a load of bollocks. I'd have done it myself, it's oh so complicated isn't it to turn a tap off and then turn it back on? The washing machine had to stand outside, and as luck would have it, we didn't actually have any rain for about 3 hours, first time in weeks, and managed to get it back inside before it torrented down otherwise I guess that would have been buggered.

So now my fridge and freezer were in the living room for about 36 hours. Now the freezer is back in the kitchen, it has stopped working. The fast freeze was roaring all night even though it wasn't (fast-freezing) so god knows how much electric it's used. And the food is slowly but surely all thawing out. All the bread has done so already, only a matter of time before everything else does too I guess. So now I have to buy a new one, and get in touch with the insurance to claim for the lost contents. I may also be able to claim for the lino in the bathroom and get some new stuff.

So what else? Oh yeah, I hate, hate, hate the kitchen lino. It is way too light in colour, looks nothing like the tiny sample I got to see ( a one inch square photo in a brochure) It shows every tiny little blob that you tread in. I shall be forever cleaning it. It also feels like walking on sandpaper, non-slip see, great.

The new fire place I chose was supposed to be "Ivory" It isn't. It's a warm pinky beige colour and looks absolutely vile against the proper Ivory colour on the hearth wall. It is also about two inches narrower than the recess made by ripping out the old one so the guy is as I type, bodging a piece of wood down one side. On the left hand side, there is a lump of plaster ripped out which I'm not sure if they are going to bodge also.

The Smoke Detector on the hall ceiling went off this morning when I had a shower. It sounds at around 100 decibels. I think they would have heard it on the other side of the village. I had to get out half way, covered in soap and stand with my finger on the re-set button for about 30 seconds to shut it up.

The outdoor sensor light in the porch goes off every time Michael from next door, or Tim the dog sets foot outside their own front door.

There's been a dispute about who is responsible for dismantling and taking away my old night storage heaters. I've managed to get that sorted now though, and they are going today. Until then, I can't re-arrange the furniture in the bedroom and living room, and have lost about 4 feet of wall space and nowhere to put anything.

Oh yeah, the boiler outside being huge and now I have no path to walk on to get round the side. But I think I already mentioned that.

Everywhere now needs decorating. Paintwork has had lumps knocked out of it, and that which hasn't had dirty hands all over it.

None of that of course can compare with the pain and anguish Alan is now going through. His dad died during the night. A blessed relief for him though, he no longer has to suffer that terrible pain any more. I would say God bless him, but I'm not a believer, but I'm sure you will understand what I mean. I guess I will have to go buy a funeral outfit now, you can't go to a funeral in jeans can you?