11February1997

11 Feb. 97
My dear folks,

This has been quite a bad day & quite a good one, fortunately, in that order. The bad bit began last night when I had a call from the people in the basement flat to say that water was coming through their ceiling from the flat above, one I’m responsible for. I recalled it having happened before, because the builders who converted the flats simply poked the overflow pipe from the upper loo cistern through the floor & left it to flow gaily into the flat below. But I thought it had long since been sorted out. Bad mistake!

It was as I suspected. The whole loo mechanism was coated in calcium & leaking madly. Neither could I find a way of stopping it, other than flushing the loo every ten minutes! In 90 minutes of hunting around, I found two taps controlling the cold water flow but neither of them made the least bit of difference. I was in a bad mood by the end, I can tell you. So was the tenant, a woman who suffers from MS & recently broke her hip. She wanted to call emergency plumbers. I resisted, knowing the bastards would charge a fortune. Eventually, I found a way of making the water overflow into the loo - & retired hot & bothered for the night.

The first bit of good news was that the plumber was due to call today to service gas boilers – something required annually of landlords. He actually arrived on time, too! to be directed thankfully into the flat. At that moment, the electricity in Maida Vale went down – first time I can remember it happening. As the bathroom has no windows, I went out to the car to find torches & we carried on. He effected temporary repairs & is to return tomorrow. From there, I took him around to the other flats.

Jones took herself out for a morning walk but came over all funny with hot flushes & came home again. She was recovered by lunch & we took ourselves out for a long trek around Hyde Park through the wind & the rain, trying to hold the big brolly against the gusts that pulled it every which way. En route, I peered at the two trucks which have been arranged as industrial works of art & was relieved to find them just as posy & silly as I’d expected. There was a blurb about the artist written by someone who had worked more fancy bullshit into a paragraph than I’ve managed in a lifetime – someone really gifted.

We stopped for tea in a French café that Jones likes. It has atmosphere as well as excellent scones & real coffee. Little old men sit reading or talking or doing crosswords & nobody minds if they take a long time doing it. We had a hunt for some Spanish currency on the way back but didn’t like either the rates or the queues & will do it later. Jones has taken out the ski gear. It’s so long since last we went. Felt quite strange to see it all lying there.

Home again for a couple of hours of tenant phoning & interviewing. The good news is that I think I’ve got one & can go & ski in peace. She’s put down a cash deposit &, subject to suitable references & payment of the balance, will move in over the weekend when the other tenants move out. What a relief!

I got a large email file from Rolf – two logos designed on the computer by his daughters, based around Cathy’s name. Very good! I also managed 27 consecutive successful games of Free Cell. Not all at once; it took a couple of weeks. I think it’s probably a world record.

That’s enough. Back to work tomorrow night.
Blessings…..