Wednesday 28 December 2011

Cold At Last!

If I were to describe my current situation to you – sitting here in the bitter cold, swathed in several layers of clothing, cupping a steaming mug of hot soup and dreaming of a long bath and a warm fire later on – you may be forgiven for thinking I’m out on some post-Christmas walk, huddling behind a handy dry-stone wall to keep warm, taking advantage of some new bit of electronic wizardry to post this article and contemplating smugly the near-future reward for my efforts.

Well, you’d be wrong; I’m at home. And the reason I’m sitting here shivering my cods off is because the blessed boiler has packed up! Not just broken down, but completely kaput. No heating and no hot water for at least two days until a new one can be found and installed. A Merry Christmas to you, too, Mr. Bosch!

But – and here’s the really crap bit – it not only means no heating and no hot water for a couple of days, but, in all probability, no new jacket and no exotic foreign holidays for the foreseeable future, either.

What a bummer!

In the way of optimists the world over, though, look hard enough and you’ll find the silver lining to any particular cloud. There is, believe it or not, a slight upside to this situation (other than the imminent re-establishment of heating and hot water!). The redoubtable Missyg has given me permission to purchase the new GPS unit we have had our eye on since the last one gave up the ghost back in October – a shiny new Garmin Etrex 30. There’s nothing like a new bit of kit to cheer up flagging spirits, and a quick Internet search has revealed a local-ish store offering it at a good price as well. So, come this time tomorrow, we will at least be able to get a grid reference for the heat-sink-of-the-Universe that is our house.

The keen-eyed amongst you will notice it’s only a few days since I was pondering the whereabouts of winter in the flatlands this year, and bemoaning the fact we were yet to have any real snow or even any frost worth a mention. I’m rather glad now we haven’t.

However we have finally got some cold conditions to contend with, although not quite in the way I had imagined. It just goes to show the adage is true: be careful what you wish for!

6 comments:

  1. I am so sorry, but this made me chuckle!

    Rotten luck. Let's hope for some warm southern winds and a new boiler, smartish!

    ReplyDelete
  2. @Alan. In cases like this, you either have to laugh or cry! So a chuckle it is.

    Should hopefully be fixed soonish. Then we can head North for a day or two and experience the conditions as they are supposed to be experienced - in the hills!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Jules. My central heating packed up and I didn't get it repaired for 3.5 years. No hot water, I managed. To me, having money for getting out and about is more important than giving it to British Gas. All I needed to do was wear more clothes in the house, and have a strip wash in the kitchen.

    I now have a full working system, courtesy of a Government Grant, but I still only use it when absolutely necessary, eg, freezing my t*ts off, ha ha. Happy New Year

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hope it's fixed now Jules. I've been as warm as toast, and I'm still happy that the weather hasn't turned wintry yet. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. @Meanqueen. You're right, it is quite possible to manage without for the most part. And, for the most part, we do. Not being sufferers of Hollyoaks syndrome, we aren't trying to keep the house at 30 degrees all the time, and older walking gear is often pressed into use!

    But, on the other hand, it is nice to have heating and hot water when we need it. And now we have. A very nice man has come and installed a brand new boiler - so we're cozy once more!

    ReplyDelete
  6. @dittzzy. I rather had to eat my words, didn't I? But yes, it's now all fixed and we'll be able to stave off winter if/when it finally arrives!

    ReplyDelete