Most of my current problems right now are to do with water. Lots of the cold stuff but also quite a lot of hot.
I have been forced to put off a colouring job on some new stonework because of the biblical quantity of rain that has been dumped on us for what seemed to be a whole month. As of Tuesday there was a break in the clouds lasting long enough to do the job without destroying my entire powder pigment stock by not getting it back in the car quick enough, so I turned up bright and early to start the work.
'They' were supposed to have a 100 metre-long hose reeled out for me to use but there was no sign of it. No problem, the young man said, he would have it rigged-up in no time. An hour later there was the extremely long hose and I attached my spray gun to it. I shouted the 100 metres for him to turn it on and water arrived at the business end. Fine.
After he left I noticed something strange about the water. It produced a thin foam which was more than simple aeration so I called him up and asked him if the water in the ladies toilet block was treated with any chemicals. I needed to know. He sent a plumber to me, who agreed with me about it and said that it should be straight mains water.
I pulled the trigger of the gun and nothing came out, so he went to the Ladies to see what was happening. I heard him cry out as he opened the door and I looked up to see great clouds of steam pouring out of it. The floor of the toilet was under 2 inches of water. Hot water. Very hot water. They had connected it to the hot supply and the hose had softened in the heat, causing it to blow off the tap.
Two days later and I have had a call from 'them' saying a new cold supply has been installed and I could start when I liked. It is due to rain today as of 2.00 and is set to continue through next week.
My life is like a Norman Wisdom film at the moment.
I can't do any gardening jobs with the incessant Irish rain. I know how you feel.
ReplyDeleteI flew over Ireland once on the way back from the USA. I understood why they cal it The Emerald Isle. I thought we were green!
DeleteOh Tom ...... what rotten luck. The weather should be sun/clouds but no rain here from tomorrow for a week .... hopefully it will blow your way. You’ll just have to go to the pub ! XXXX
ReplyDeleteWork is the only thing that keeps me out of the pub, and The Archers is the only thing that gets me out once I'm in.
DeleteN W lived in our Sussex village, and his son was our gardener; but don't tell anyone. Rain here too, but not biblical.
ReplyDeleteThat is a real claim to fame. I met two young Albanians recently and they had never heard of him. Fame (and claims to it) is so transitory.
DeleteYou couldn't make it up!!
ReplyDeleteRain is affecting our work on getting my workshop going too...and our garden jobs to pay for it...
What do you do in your workshop?
DeleteI am a potter and linoprintmaker...printing in the house and potting (soon) in the workshop
DeleteAh. Would that be a potting shed? (sorry).
Deleteindeed!
DeleteI'm convinced I have trench foot after gardening so much in the rain now. My feet look rather odd. Intrigued by the stone colouring, is it a type of paint or dye?
ReplyDeleteIt is just ordinary powder paint. It has to be powder pigment, partly because of the quantity used and partly because pre-mixed doesn't work properly. Here are before and after video clips if you haven't already seen them:
Deletehttps://tomstephenson.blogspot.com/2019/10/camouflage.html
Sorry, I can't turn that into a live link so you will have to highlight and go to.
DeleteWow, that's rather clever!
DeleteI hope that's what my clients think.
DeleteBad luck. It's dry, sunny and warm here.
ReplyDeleteYou've had your fair share of rain already. It's our turn now.
DeleteHow annoying. You just can't get the staff.
ReplyDeleteYou just can't get the god.
DeleteWhat a fiasco - your problems make mine appear like nothing.
ReplyDeleteOur forthcoming weather report sounds much better than yours, tonight they said high pressure is on its way. Do you really live just down the road from me?
I don't know where you live - or at least a 50 mile radius is all I have to go on. You know I live in Bath.
DeleteAlso, hills tend to produce precipitation.
DeleteWho is your Mr Grimsdale?
ReplyDeleteYou know who.
Delete"They" are everywhere, aren't they?
ReplyDeleteIt's usually 'them' and us.
DeleteWell, at least yo're willing to recount the stories of stupidity. Not yours, mind you.
ReplyDeleteEvery now and then I will tell of my own, but only if it has some entertainment value. Most of it hasn't.
DeleteWhat a fiasco, Tom! Appropriate scenario for a NW film I agree.
ReplyDeleteDo you wear the hat and do the funny antics too?
Sometimes they force me to wear a hard hat.
Delete