COULDN'T STAND NO HEAT SO I'VE A PLUMBER IN THE KITCHEN !

I am pleased to report that we have had no damage re; the really high winds of yesterday. Unlike some poor souls we even kept our electricity supply....I am so grateful for that..........no electric would mean Mick's bed and hoist would be out of action.
Of course life being the way it is.... what happens when I try to put the heating on this morning?..............the PUMP wouldn't start ..........so no central heating!!! This problem has been threatening for some time now.....on a few occasions I have had to give the pump a good hard whack to get it going but that wasn't helping this time. I think the powers that be must have thought...."Look Ruth we've left you with electricity and no fences down....but we've got to make you suffer a bit otherwise it wouldn't be fair!" Anyway, after countless phone calls to Heating Engineers I finally found one that wasn't just an "answerphone".....they certainly sounded efficient on the phone and promised someone would be out to see us within the hour..........then I had 2 phone calls from them keeping me updated as to when the engineer would arrive.

He's here now; as I suspected it was the pump..he is putting in a new one.; he reckons the job will only take a couple of hours but will cost quite a bit (for once credit cards are a blessing).

At least he hasn't tried to do a "cowboy" job on me; like saying that I need a whole new system or something. He has mentioned that at some point the boiler will need a good service but hasn't tried to push the extra expense on me at the moment; as long as this job is done efficiently I shall make sure this company gets that work too...it's very hard to find reputable workmen nowadays. In the past we would have always called on one of Mick's workmates to do the jobs that Mick couldn't but names and phone numbers are all tucked away in Mick's head so I've had to rely on Yellow Pages.

I'm hoping he will be finished before I need to get into the kitchen. Leanne and co are coming to stay tonight and I'm hoping to cook a roast dinner for them (if not it'll be a fish and chips takeaway). Tomorrow Lynn is coming to stay; she's bringing dressed crab and seafood platter with her; Mick has always loved crab and I'm hoping it will tempt his "savoury" taste buds. He managed a little beef broth last night and really tucked into his Complan/rice pudding mixture. He also ate all his breakfast again. He's looking a little flushed today but I think that could be because he wants his bowels open. I've tried to put a dressing over the pressure area on his bottom so that if he does manage to go the area will stay clean.

An immediate update here; the jobs finished!! ; he has also repaired the thermostat; this hadn't been working properly lately; it has been a case of heating on at full blast or off. He's given me a Customer Satisfaction Survey to fill in; I certainly will as he was polite, good natured and caring of our situation plus he got on with job quickly and hasn't left a mess.

Just a little PLUG (lol) for the plumbing company as so far all seems to be working well http://www.reactfast.co.uk/