A rubbish day!

I’m typing this on my phone as it’s the only internet access I have at the moment!

Today has been a disaster from the moment I woke up. No internet, no phone, no TV. A mix up with Virgin Media means we have been late paying the bill – they told us the wrong payment date so it’s overdue. Sorted tomorrow hopefully but not having it, especially when you’re tied to the house for the day makes it a very long day!

The next disaster was we somehow managed to run out of milk and butter. It doesn’t sound like a big deal but when you have two toddlers that drink gallons of milk and when you suffer with heartburn that only milk will ease, it is a full scale disaster. Graham has a rubbish habit of opening new tubs of butter, so I think we have some in the fridge, and then suddenly there is none. Grrr.

I couldn’t leave the house because of waiting in for a plumber to come and fix our leaky boiler. It has been dripping water for a couple of weeks, which they knew about (and should have come out last week, but didn’t!).
On Friday they arranged to come out at some point today to fix it, but then yesterday morning starting hissing, which was air. We have carbon monoxide and gas monitor so we knew it wasn’t dangerous, but turned the boiler off just in case, so we’ve had no hot water since yesterday.

My mum came to my rescue with milk and butter, and I’m glad she turned up when she did. I had just gone into the kitchen and turned on the tap – to hear a even louder hissing noise and see water pouring (and I mean pouring!) from the boiler. I grabbed the nearest bowls I could find and shoved them under – having to empty them every minute or so, whilst trying to deal with two kids and phone the estate agents maintenance line. I had to use my mobile, which is pretty useless in our house as we get next to no signal. Eventually got enough signal to get through and they said someone was coming this afternoon – not much help when you have a waterfall in your kitchen. I explained that I couldn’t leave the kitchen unless I wanted a flood. Their helpful response was to find the stopcock and turn it off. I have no idea what a stopcock is, let alone where it is. Luckily at this point my mum turned up so could help to empty the tubs. We phoned my dad who hadn’t left for work and he came down, and after having a hunt round found the stopcock and turned the water off. Not long afterwards, the estate agent turned up to try and help turn it off.

The (rather yummy!) plumber turned up at about half four. Thankfully, we don’t need a new boiler (although I actually wish we did, might get it sorted quicker!) but some sort of valve or something’s has split – not a massive issue. The problem is that it isn’t a common boiler, and so the parts need to be ordered in. This could take anything from two days up to two weeks – it is an Italian boiler so if the parts aren’t in stock in the UK they need to be sent from abroad. We could potentially be without hot water for a fortnight. Great! We are top priority for it having two little kids. I was ready to phone the estate agents to go crazy but realised there was little point – they can’t magic the part for me so we will just have to grin and bear it – although I will be pushing for a rent reduction!! Luckily we have an electric shower, and a dishwasher, but no hot water is already driving me mad. The plumber also forgot to turn the water back on – he said had isolated the boiler so we could have our water back on but hasn’t! We turned the stopcock back on and water started coming out again, so I’ll be back on the phone and waiting in all day tomorrow. Until they come out I have no water upstairs and can’t flush the toilet – really useful with a potty training toddler!

I’ve tried to look on the bright side – at least it has happened in the summer so we don’t need the heating, and at least it isn’t when baby is due or I’m having to worry about taking Harrison to school. My mums at home on holiday and literally over the road if I need help so I guess they are the positives in a crap situation!

Here’s hoping tomorrow will be a better day!

3 thoughts on “A rubbish day!”

  1. What a nightmare! I hope things are getting sorted. You sound so calm in your post, I think I’d have gone into full on meltdown by 10.30am! Hope bump is ok and thanks so much for the lovely comment on my blog Zx

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