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The Villages

Date: 2008-10-05 22:22
Subject: my god, it wasn't an hallucination...
Security: Public
I've not been particularly compos mentis this weekend, so I haven't really been reading the news to see what the commentators have been saying about Peter Mandelson's return to the Cabinet. But I do have to wonder what on earth possessed Gordon to give a job to a man he allegedly despises and who allegedly despises him.
For those of you on the other side of the village pond, this is Peter Mandelson's third time in government. The previous two times, he left under something of a cloud connected to what the media term `sleaze.' Who says there are no third acts in British Politics?
I note with some interest that he's already up to his old tricks, telling Sky News that he discussed Gordon's job offer with Tony Blair - the implication being that the prospect of going back into the Cabinet, and the Peerage which will go with the job, were not enough. Tony had to say it was okay. Which will wind Gordon up something chronic.

In other news, I should explain the business with the Utility Room In The Sky, and while it's no great mystery it does need some background. It also, apparently, will require a pic, so to spare everyone who has something more interesting to do, I'll continue

When we decided to have the attic converted, Bogna decided she wanted an en suite shower room and a little utility room. As you'll expect, there's a certain amount of plumbing for all these things, and as you might guess it's been somewhat cackhandedly-installed. When we run the water into the washbasin, it sputters up out of the drain-hole of the shower. If we fill the basin and then empty it, it winds up filling the shower-tray before draining away. It's been getting worse and worse since the builders left, and for the past few weeks every time we've used the washing machine we've been getting the washing machine-water coming up in the shower too. We've been putting up with it because the builders are `coming back soon' to sort out this and other things that a troupe of trained puffins could have done better.
Last Saturday I was doing the washing and I popped up to check how long the cycle had to run and I noticed water all over the floor.
So I pulled the washer and the drier out and looked behind them, and when the machine drained water was backing up out of the outflow pipe.
Which led to a weekend crammed into a number of unfeasibly small spaces, unscrewing traps and u-bends and j-bends and rodding out pipes, on the theory that there's some blockage there somewhere.
About half past seven on Sunday evening and sans sense of humour, I gave up and settled for sealing the place where the washer's drain hose goes into the outflow with as much silicon bath sealant as I could find. I thought I'd leave it to cure for a few days, then check to see whether any water was getting past the seal, and then put everything back the way it was, but by midweek I was feeling so wiped-out that I couldn't be bothered.
Here's a pic of why I couldn't use the utility room this week. Bogna's in Poland and she's taken my camera with her to show her parents the wedding photos, so I took this with my phone.

In a rare burst of energy yesterday I managed to manhandle everything back into place and do some washing. So, there you go.

For everyone else, here's a pic of Dougal.

I'm feeling a bit better, but not much. I've spent as much time as possible asleep this weekend, but I'm still a long way below par.
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User: hutch0
Date: 2008-10-06 00:08 (UTC)
Subject: (no subject)
If you brush the fur at the sides of his face just right, he does have a certain resemblance to Bismark. That's Bismark the German Chancellor, not the Bismark in Dakota.
My own feeling about the plumbing is that it wasn't installed properly in the first place. The problem is that most of it is either behind or inside walls. We'll see what the builders say.
I have to be at least functional tomorrow, because Bogna's coming home.

Edited at 2008-10-06 12:09 am (UTC)
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(no subject) - (Anonymous)
User: hutch0
Date: 2008-10-08 22:42 (UTC)
Subject: (no subject)
There's certainly something going on, and it's been getting worse since we plumbed the washer in. Now when you run the water in the handbasin there's this weird echoing gurgling sound, as though the water's running away into the centre of the Earth.
We thought we were paying professionals in the first place. But they're the imbeciles who installed the plumbing.
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