yeah great!

For 18 months we have had a problem with our boiler, even though it is only 4 years old. For 18 months our boiler has clanked and whirred, wobbled and shook, vibrated and roared. At times sounding like there is a harrier jump jet taking off in my airing cupboard!

For 18 months we have had an unreliable hot water supply, it will suddenly run cold – if we are lucky this happens after the boiler has made a huge noise, but sometimes we are unlucky and end up with a blast of cold water when we were expecting hot, particularly bothersome when you are standing under a shower!

For 18 months the council (our landlords) have been sending out heating engineers (well one engineer, poor love he has tried so hard!) and various bits of our boiler have been changed, tweaked, thumped and generally abused. But still it clanks and whirrs, wobbles and shakes, vibrates and roars.

4 weeks ago I reached the end of my tether and begged a surveyor to come out from the council to assess this stupid piece of machinery. 3 weeks ago a lovely man (funnily enough another Mr.B!) came to my house along with some boss type blokey from the heating engineer company, they agreed that considering the trouble I have had, and the fact they no longer use these boilers that I would be entitled to a new boiler. ASAP!

Did I want it now or am I ok to wait until the new financial year? Happy was I to wait a few weeks – we would be one of the first few done – hooray.

Fast forward to this morning at 9am, I am in my pj’s thinking of getting in the shower and making my way over to my mum’s with the kids for the day. The phone rings – ‘is that Mrs. Burfot?’ ‘Yes is it’ ‘We have had a cancellation, can we do your boiler today?’

Yes, say I (after all its only 2 days into the new financial year, how often do you get service like that?!) how long till he gets here? Half hour is the reply! Half an hour? Half an hour? Half an hour to get showered, get teen daughter up and in the shower, empty out airing cupboard, make access to radiators.

Anyone who knows me, will know my house is the tidiest of houses – we don’t live ‘minimalist’ – so needless to say when the boiler men arrived I am still in my dressing gown with a towel wrapped around my head running around like a blue arsed whatsit! And as I run back and forward across the landing (in aforementioned outfit) carrying piles of towels out of bathroom into bedroom, and the engineers are laying down dust sheets whilst trying to avert their eyes (teen daughter had joined me by this point wearing same fetching ensemble) all I could think was

THANK GOD I HAD MY LEGS WAXED LAST WEEK