Life

When I first started writing a blog on AOL it was meant to be a reflection on life and all its tribulations.

Leaving my health issues aside the last couple of days have certainly full of tribulations! my central heating/hot water has been supplied from a back boiler located behind a gas fire in the lounge. It has been functioning day in day out for the last 17 years with no problems but every British Gas engineer who has been out to service it for the last three years has muttered dire threats about it not meeting present day standards culminating in this years visit when they threatened to turn it off and stick 'Do not use' stickers all over it. So I thought I had better get it replaced but aparently you can not have a back boiler now as they are reckoned to be inefficent and unsafe. In the end I decided to go for one of the new style condensing boilers which I am told is going to reduce my gas bill by as much as 40%-we will wait and see though. Another advantage is that you dont need any water tanks with the system.

They arrived just before 8 on Tuesday morning to fit it and were here all day, the day turned out to be cold to say the least. I was sitting here wearing two jumpers and a coat and I was still frozen. Just after 6 the installation was complete and they left. Shortly afterwards I needed some hot water and there was none. Rang the installer and he said to check the water pressure in the boiler, it should be between 1 and 2 bars (whatever happened to PSI!) and if it was less to open the inlet valve and let the pressure build up. Once I had done that everything worked, I even had a lovely hot shower. Everything was OK, well at least until 5 the following morning when yet again I was on all fours under the boiler letting more water in. I should explain that the new boiler is in the airing cupboard and the site of the old back boiler has been bricked up.

Again at 8.30 there was no hot water or heating so called the installers out who thought that the problem was caused by a leaking pipe somewhere in the system. They managed to configure the system so that I had hot water but no heating. They came back this morning and found the leak behind the newly bricked up fireplace, which has now been opened up again to repair the leak and let it dry out. As a result this is the third day without heating and yes I know its nearly June but once you get cold its very difficult to warm up.

Amongst all this kerfuffle my mobile phone charger has vanished. I was lucky enough to find one on Ebay for 99p which I ordered on Tuesday and arrived today. I think this was brilliant service and even allowing for postal charges extremely good value. In fact everything I have had from Ebay has been of similar ilk. On Sunday I successfully bid for a colour ink cartridge for my printer and it was delivered yesterday. Again I got it for 99p plus £1.50 postage and packing a little different from the £18 plus they want in the shops.

Talking of feeling the cold did you read in the news about the 83 year old woman who had kept her Mothers body in the freezer for the last twenty years. It happened in Sidcup which is about 20 miles from here and I am not going to make any jokes about the 'That's why Mums go to Iceland' adverts.

Anyway I suppose its all part of life's rich tapestry

Andy