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Post by Patrick on Dec 27, 2010 2:31:03 GMT
I'd just settled down to watch Oz and Hugh's latest Big Adventure and everything went black! I mean everything! Usually a power cut just affects the domestic supply and you still have street lights, but even they went off! Well, the one outside the house did. Across the road on the other side, they still had theirs, but the road behind the house was all out too. Usual thing about finding the matches - I knew there was a torch beside the settee but couldn't find it, so inspiration struck as I remembered I'd stuck some dirt cheap LED stick up lights under the kitchen cupboards, so was able to pluck that off to go and search for the torch and matches. We've a lot of candles around so that wasn't a problem, and soon everything was cosy again. Although in half an hour the lights across the road, round the corner and down the road went out too. Popping outside for a bit it was incredibly eerie - and having seen one or two sci fi movies now courtesy of Best Beloved - I imagined it only being a matter of time before the invasion was launched!
Everything came back on at eight. Good job it was Ham Salad tonight. We talked about phoning someone, but thought we'd leave it to see what happened, anyway, or eeeeeennnnnyyyyywwwaaaay, I looked it up afterwards, having the vague knowledge that United Utilities looked after the National Grid in our area - but I was very pissed off to discover that the buck has been passed onto another company called "Electricity North West". Pissed off because, as a consumer of said electricity - no one seems to have thought to have told the consumer that their service now comes from yet another disconnected "Private" company, as they pass the buck from one to the next. A letter, or an email would have been nice, then we'd not only know who to call on these occasions, we might not waste money on the phone doing it. (Good job I didn't try) At least pre-privatisation there was only one number to call - now it seems you'll be chasing all round the place unless you know who the hell is supplying the supplier who is supplying you!
Rant over.
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Post by trubble on Dec 27, 2010 8:30:40 GMT
Bravo. And welcome back. We've had a few power cuts because of the snow. Very eerie indeed. And you really notice how much you use TV and the internet!
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Post by Weyland on Dec 27, 2010 11:40:30 GMT
At least pre-privatisation there was only one number to call - now it seems you'll be chasing all round the place unless you know who the hell is supplying the supplier who is supplying you! You mean NOT supplying you. I sincerely hope not. Stepped into the kitchen this morning into at least 15cm of water (the kitchen is lower than the rest of the house -- luckily -- VERY luckily). Pipe burst somewhere, I thought. Had to go out the front door and right around the house to the back to get me wellies, which were semi-floating in the utility, but dry inside. Burst pipe there, spraying water all over the place. Then plodge to the stop-cock in the kitchen, couldn't shift it, plodge to find a tool, no good, plodge back for better tool, done. TV recorder under water, along with Jean's concert and umpteen Wallander episodes and God knows how much other good stuff I haven't watched yet. Floor ruined, plus a bag full of books and unknown other damage. Now all the fun of playing phone bingo with the insurance company, plumber, etc. They'll have millions of calls today, no doubt. Come back -20, all is forgiven. (Kitchen was flooded once before a couple of years ago because of a blocked drain, but not as bad as this. All part of life's rich tapestry.)
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Post by riotgrrl on Dec 27, 2010 12:09:42 GMT
Poor Weyland! That sounds hella hellish.
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Post by everso on Dec 27, 2010 12:51:14 GMT
Oh Weyland, how awful! Hope it all gets sorted out soon. What a drag it all is - I feel so sorry for all you folk with frozen and/or burst pipes.
My daughter has had washing machine problems (utility room flooded) and has had to bring washing over to me to do until "the man" comes in the New Year.
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Post by Patrick on Dec 27, 2010 13:05:03 GMT
Oh, that's rotten. Finger's crossed your insurer is one of the good ones who organises everything for you. I've always hoped to have one like that but it always turns out that I've not paid them enough for that to happen.
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Post by Weyland on Dec 29, 2010 17:12:34 GMT
Now all the fun of playing phone bingo with the insurance company Fun?! Schmun!!! The AA palms me off onto Lloyds-TSB Insurance. That number promises a call-back that never happens. Called them again, and it's a never-ending queue at 8p/minute. Ll-TSB website gives me yet another number -- AXA Insurance -- which is (guess what) a never-ending queue at 11p/minute. Looked up the number on the web and it says it's Aviva Insurance. I'm just about ready to implement Plan B, which is and Any advice from experienced victims of "insurance" is very welcome.
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Post by everso on Dec 29, 2010 17:24:07 GMT
Alph will approve of the guns.
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Post by everso on Dec 29, 2010 17:29:24 GMT
Actually, you know what? It's absolutely goddam bloody disgraceful that these companies treat us like shyte. They are all over us like a rash when they want to take our premiums off us, but come the day when we need to claim something back they palm us off with roundaboutation at 11p. a minute (usually leading to an Asian call centre where, for all that they try to help, they are often difficult to understand and get through to). I'm seriously thinking of changing my bank from Santander as it's the biggest lump of crap imaginable. But who to change to? Anybody?
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Post by Weyland on Dec 29, 2010 18:16:07 GMT
they palm us off with roundaboutation at 11p. a minute Tip-of-the-Day: If you ring the tw@ts via Skype, it tells you exactly how much is being syphoned directly into their Cayman Islands accounts as you wait for the answer which is never going to come. I never signed up for Santander, but I've ended up with two accounts with them on account of takeovers. Not that there's very much in them, but I now have no idea how to access them in any case. I believe they call it the Information Age, or the Knowledge Economy, or something. In reality it's the &@ck!#% #*$&. I can't recommend any bank in this country. They're all uniformly shyte. Market Economy, they call it. I suppose it's because they're not getting big enough bonuses. You know the old saying: You pay millions, you get a steaming pile of dingoes' kidneys.Meanwhile, I'm stuck with a very wet and unusable kitchen, a non-functional freezer full of rotting food, a dead fridge ditto, a dead satellite receiver and recorder, a dead dishwasher, a dead washing machine, a ruined floor and units, a water-laden solid-fuel fire/stove and fuel, God knows what mayhem in the cupboards, a ramped-up insurance bill next year, and no hope in sight. Not that I'm bitter. That was Weyland's Little Ray of Sunshine for today.
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Post by everso on Dec 29, 2010 19:00:23 GMT
It could be worse. You could have a cat:
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Post by Weyland on Dec 29, 2010 19:11:39 GMT
It could be worse. You could have a cat: Cheered me up, Ev. Thanks. Seriously, though, I've never met a cat as stupid as that. Leaving food on the floor? I don't think so. Not even a dog is that stupid.
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Post by aubrey on Dec 29, 2010 20:41:03 GMT
There is food they're not interested in. Our Gussie didn't care for human food at all.
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Post by jean on Dec 29, 2010 20:48:25 GMT
That was Weyland's Little Ray of Sunshine for today. That's awful - I'm sorry! I had not seen your post about this when I used that phrase, so it was dramatic irony (or something) rather than conscious cruelty on my part.
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Post by Weyland on Dec 29, 2010 21:04:56 GMT
There is food they're not interested in. Our Gussie didn't care for human food at all. True. Neither did our Pandora. But she would make sure you thought she did, if you catch my drift. It's a power game when you live with a bright cat, and they have most of the power. But I'm sure you knew that.
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Post by aubrey on Dec 30, 2010 5:59:40 GMT
That's true. Aubrey doesn't like much human food, but he's always getting up onto the table for a look when we're eating.
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Post by housesparrow on Dec 30, 2010 6:12:02 GMT
One of our two cats once sat on the windowsill and watched us eat a vegetable curry, begrudging every mouthful. To teach her a lesson I gave her a potato wedge, complete with curry sauce. She ate every morsel of it.
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Post by aubrey on Dec 30, 2010 10:03:08 GMT
Brilliant!!!
I wish Aubrey would do that. If you do give him something he sniffs it and might even lick it, but them leaves it alone. And asks for something else off your plate
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Post by Patrick on Dec 30, 2010 10:52:11 GMT
Cat was nagging me whilst I was slicing onions for an au gratin dish. So I offered him some. Talk about the equivalent of an electric shock as he took a sniff and shot off up the hall way at high speed!
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Post by aubrey on Dec 30, 2010 12:26:59 GMT
They're great when they get a whiff of something their don't like.
I like offering ours a sip of whisky.
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