The beauty of renting is that we’re not responsible for all those annoying little things that inevitably go wrong around the home. We had a dodgy boiler that refused to heat water (though it was more than happy to heat the radiators, even when not asked). Our friendly landlady despatched a boiler-suited chatty man with cute dimples. He installed a brand new heat exchanger (No idea? Me neither). I provided tea for his labours and listened intently to my boiler man recall his boiler tales. A dull date on a Saturday night, I thought. Despite the cute dimples.
Then we became undone by a temperamental washing machine that only spun when it could be arsed. The reluctant spin went on for weeks. We were seriously in danger of being buried under sopping piles of dripping undies. Our landlady dispatched a smiley man in baggy bottoms and a corporate polo top. I provided tea for his labours as he tried to wring a final spin out of the moody machine. “It’s knackered,” he concluded. His home-spun words were music to my ears. I almost invited him out for dinner.
A week later, our landlady despatched a replacement appliance escorted by a thick-set older man with an even thicker-set accent. He was accompanied by a spotty young apprentice. “Where’s it plugged in?” asked the old man. “Absolutely no idea,” I replied. After a lot of huffing and puffing, hauling and heaving, he found the socket behind the fridge. Then I watched him slice the live wire with a Stanley knife. The loud bang almost gave me a seizure. Unlike me, he wasn’t the least bit perturbed by the black flume and strong whiff of electrical burn or the fact that he’d blown all the sockets in the kitchen. The young spotty thing was shocked into silence. For one brief moment, I thought I’d been beamed back to Bodrum where all workers are fully qualified electricians/plumbers/carpenters/roofers/rocket scientists (delete as appropriate).
Laurel and Hardy didn’t get tea for their trouble, I can tell you. Well, the kettle wasn’t working.
Perking the Pansies 
. . that is rather unfair Jack, you are not comparing like with like! Let me tell you about the wonderful repairs to my side-by-side fridge-freezer over the years . . . shit! That’s blown the weekend. I’ll start again – let me tell you about the ins and outs of . . Oh, thanks! Nice biscuits by the way!
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All in a day’s work 😉
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Do you have a new washer now??…..and hydro service in the kitchen?? Sounds like things in Turkey were better?
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Well, I wouldn’t quite say that given our experience but it’s all part of life’s rich tapestry. Yes, all is fine in washing department 🙂
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Why is it when one a thing goes, three more follow in quick succession. I don’t understand about splicing or slicing that cord but good thing the kitchen didn’t explode in pieces. 😀
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They say things come in threes and now the toilet flush is playing up 🙂
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I tried to avoid mention of that so as not to jinx you…apparently I failed.
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😀
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😉
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Ha ha oh dear, trust you are now back in the 21st century!
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Our landlady sent round an electrician straight away and all was fixed by the time Liam got home from work.
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Don’t you miss the next door neighbour bouncing about on the roof picking olives? Incompetent workmen can be found anywhere.
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I’ve just finished off her bit in the new book. Brought back happy memories 🙂
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When I saw the picture and title, I thought you really had been beamed back here. Digiturk has a new sci-fi channel showing the original Star Trek series from 1966!!
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Love it. Wasn’t William Shatner gorgeous?
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