Wonderful Radio One

I thought up my snappy little title while I was waiting for Tracey to finish her radio therapy, which is a shame as this blog is mostly not going to be about it. The problem was that I took a day off for Tracey's first treatment just to see what it was like. It's not like chemo, I can't sit next to her and witter away aimlessly, I have to sit and wait, in the waiting room (good name for it I hear you say). When Tracey was called away for treatment I just sat down and waited, and waited, and waited. I was reading a christmas present, a book about my beloved Somerset cricket club, then decided to listen to some sounds on my Ipod. Imagine my surprise when I was woken up with a start by the sound of my own snoring. I quickly changed to playing games on the Ipod until Tracey came out of her treatment. That was that over, uneventful for me but I know she has a full account on her blog.

My real concern this week has been the demise of our upstairs cistern. I like to think it was broken by one of our children, Adam I believe. I am not a handyman, not in the slightest. I can do nails and hammering, I can fix computers, I can't do water closets. I have the flushing bits that have been broken, I have a manual for the mechanism. I have visited B&Q, Focus, Wickes and even the Plumb Stop. Plumb Stop was quite revealing, an intake of air through the front teeth and the immortal words "I've not seen one of these before".

My only option was to visit the local shop I bought it from, Melksham's Bathroom and Tile centre. The only problem was that it's a one man and his dog firm, meaning that they weren't open over Christmas or the new year. All this time we have had to remove the cistern lid and manually lift the mechanism to get the flush to work.

Today though was the day. I proudly walked through Melksham with the damaged part in one hand  and the manual in the other. I don't know about you, but these shops do intimidate me. I only want a couple of bits of plastic so I can join the mechanism back together, but that still doesn't stop me feeling like an 8 year old as I enter the shop (no I mean in age, not in any other way!). I should have known what was coming. "I've not seen one of these before". When I point out it was bought from his shop he starts to look at the manual. "Very good make these" slight change of tune from him, not entirely unexpected. "Do you know what model it is?". "Yeah it's a 1970 Ford Capri 3000, the one with the speed bump in the bonnet" I thought. Actually what I really thought was "It's a bloody toilet, I stand up and look down in to it, I sit on it. It's somewhere to think, it's somewhere quiet to read the Sunday papers" I have no idea what make it is or what difference that makes to the flushing mechanism. "It would have been a great help if you had a picture of it" he said. Funny that, forgot to bring the picture portfolio.

Anyway at the end of a very useful conversation it was decided, by him I think, that the best thing to do would be to ring the distributors direct and get them to supply me, the logic being that if he did it he would charge me extra for the phone calls etc. Part of me wanted desperately to say "Can you do it please mister" but I think I agreed,  left the shop and trudged home.

When I arrived home, still grasping my broken mechanism and my manual I decided the thing to do was to ring the supplier without delay. So I looked up their website and spent the next half hour looking to see if I could find the spare parts needed by myself. Eventually, realising I was well beyond my considerable intellect, I girded my loins and rung. Tina from Birmingham answered the phone. I explained my situation, "What model is it love" by this time I had looked again at the cistern and found a name "It's an Impulse, please can you help me"I said. " I'll just have a look at the manual" she said with a ruffle of pages. We compared manuals for a moment. "It would help a lot if you had a picture of the unit". What is it with these people and pictures. Anyway to cut along story short, I took a series of pictures of my toilet and sent it to a stranger in Birmingham hoping that she will be able to supply me with the parts I need. And if you don't believe me here are a couple of the photos.

I now have a folderin my computer picture library entitled Toilet.

I hope to be able to complete this transaction in a few days.



Cistern





Broken bit

 Finally I am pleased to say that the decs are down and the festivities are officially over in the house.

And on that note I shall say goodbye

Chris x