| lesley153
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| Thanks, Gary, I think they've improved over the years. I am told that shiny new white plastic windows no longer turn yellow. Still, they'll be better than rotten timber ones. Yes, long story. Need sleep more. |
Reply #5261. Dec 04 12, 6:26 PM
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| lesley153
|
Yes I could get timber ones but I'd probably have to sell the house to pay for it.
This week's online shopping delivery was exactly what I'd ordered, no substitutions, no damage, but I've got someone's baby food. It's little pots of apple conconctions, decorated with bears and labelled 4-6 months.
I did ring them but it took five minutes to get through by which time he was out of the area. That was a minute listening to some droning message about Christmas delivery slots all being used up, followed by four minutes waiting.
Last week's driver was a gung-ho loon and this week's was a grunting churl. And somewhere is a 4-6-month-old who was looking forward to some appley stuff and now has to wait till the next shop.
The man on the phone said I could keep it, no charge. Thanks but no thanks. When my brother and I were very little, our parents would scrape the flesh of an apple with the side of a teaspoon, and that was delicious, so the pots wouldn't even bring back sunkissed childhood memories. Maybe I'll stand on the pavement till a pram goes past. |
Reply #5262. Dec 04 12, 6:38 PM
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| lesley153
|
Electrician came on Tuesday, as arranged. I was expecting his boss but he's about half the boss's age, house-trained, and infinitely more personable.
Windows came this morning. In about six hours, two men replaced the back door and a load of flat windows. They too are courteous and considerate, and cleaned up as they went. O joy.
By the end of tomorrow they will know if the bay windows will take two days or three: and then I start reclaiming my house. This is when I get a rough idea how much money I need to spend and if there's enough left to buy a car. |
Reply #5263. Dec 10 12, 3:35 PM
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satguru 
|
Sounds like a full upgrade, of course I hadn't seen it before but sounds like it's going to be a lot better after. And I hope there's something there for a car, I'm sure you'll appreciate it if you do.
Reply #5264. Dec 10 12, 5:19 PM
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| lesley153
|
It is a bit of an upgrade. The windows will be double-glazed, so they'll be quieter as well as warmer. The back door is a revelation. It was a slab, that had once been covered with shiny black paint, but half the paint was peeling. It's now white and half-glazed, which is nice. What a difference a lump of glass makes.
|
Reply #5265. Dec 10 12, 6:23 PM
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| lesley153
|
And yes, I will appreciate it. Minicabs are fine if you want to go from A to B, and back again a few hours later, and probably cheaper than running a car. Certainly cheaper than running a 1992 bottomless-pit-on-wheels.
They're frustrating if you want to go from B to a few other places and eventually back from B to A. |
Reply #5266. Dec 10 12, 6:27 PM
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| veronikkamarrz
|
Sounds like the window guys were professional. How very nice. I love new windows almost as much as new carpet. Both give the incentive to keep them clean...by a professional, of course! ;)
Good luck on your 'total.' A car is important.
Reply #5267. Dec 11 12, 11:49 AM
|
Professer
|
Pleased windows are good Lesley, hope you reap the benefits of draft free windows
Reply #5268. Dec 11 12, 12:46 PM
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| lesley153
|
Thank you!
Being carless isn't too bad in dry, mild weather. Limiting and irritating, but manageable. When it's so cold I put a pair of socks on for the first time since it snowed last year, I want to be able to stumble from the front door to the car door, ten feet maximum, or cower next to a fire.
The men seem to be fast, efficient, and house-trained, and have behaved like the best and kindest of house-guests. They can definitely come again. Oh wait - they're coming back tomorrow, to Finish Off!
I have a window-cleaner lined up, and I have a friend who has a cleaning company. I would like to get it clean now, and keep it clean. Don't tell Jonathan but I think I'm going to change the locks, so he won't be able to come here and make a mess.
I haven't seen the boss actually doing any of the work, just sending people. I asked the man doing the kitchen if he or the boss could give me a quote for some other work to be done. If he'd had the sense he was born with, he would have said, "tell me what you want and I'll talk to the boss about getting some figures out."
He must be a sub-contractor, because what he actually said was "no, that's for the boss to do, although his quote would be higher than mine because he has higher overheads, but I won't quote because I'm here working for him, and I won't take work off him because I'm Very Loyal."
All I wanted was a quote! I didn't want a lesson in the internal workings of the sub-contractor system, or or how to lose a customer by making her feel she's done something wrong. What a pea-brain. |
Reply #5269. Dec 11 12, 6:09 PM
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| lesley153
|
A few weeks ago, I bought a bottle of bubbly, and told sprog I'd open it to celebrate the windows being done.
The window men came this morning and finished off, I went to an Alexander lesson, and sprog came, to eat, chat, and pick up the keys he left behind on Sunday.
We ate a lot, talked a lot, and drank judicious amounts of bubbly. Nice evening. |
Reply #5270. Dec 13 12, 6:23 PM
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redwaldo
|
Great to hear that the renovations (and celebration) went well!
Reply #5271. Dec 13 12, 7:02 PM
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| lesley153
|
| Thanks, Mark, it was good. We covered quite a lot of ground and put a plan together for how to spend the Christmas holidays, and fit a family wedding into it. Oh and he took pictures of some of the windows. :) |
Reply #5272. Dec 13 12, 7:39 PM
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| veronikkamarrz
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I'm so glad everything ended well...Did you change the locks? ;)
Reply #5273. Dec 13 12, 9:10 PM
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| lesley153
|
| Thank you, VM, so am I. No, I haven't changed the locks, or sold his bed. :) |
Reply #5274. Dec 14 12, 2:40 PM
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| veronikkamarrz
|
:) So happy for all that! The kid would miss his bed...But he'd be able to get in the house! ;)
Reply #5275. Dec 14 12, 11:34 PM
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| lesley153
|
| I could have taken the front door key off his key ring. He wouldn't have noticed for ages. *evil* |
Reply #5276. Dec 15 12, 4:33 PM
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| veronikkamarrz
|
Evil then...Guilty, when he arrives in the cold, and you're not home to let him in! The kid will always have his key, unless you need privacy? ;) Oh, I'm a poet, after all!
Reply #5277. Dec 15 12, 8:28 PM
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| lesley153
|
The only unplanned visit he's ever made was a surprise visit on my birthday, but he made sure I'd be at home before he got on the train.
Trying to think of any circumstances in which I would like privacy, No, can't think of any. I can think of circumstances in which I have been grateful for another person in the house, though. |
Reply #5278. Dec 16 12, 4:04 PM
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wyambezi
|
Lesley, I'm so glad your renovations are over and done with, except for window cleaning. Did Jonathan only recently see the new kitchen and what were his thoughts when he saw it? I hope he's very pleased.
Reply #5279. Dec 18 12, 2:43 PM
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| lesley153
|
Thank you, wyambezi, so am I! He has been as pleased as I am with the work that's been done. He wandered round, looking at new cupboards and windows, oohing and aahing and smiling.
The most striking change is the new back door. The old one was solid. The new one is half-glazed, so light floods in, and makes me think I've left it open. More subtle changes are that it's warmer, and quieter, and the windows don't rattle. I don't think we realise what we've been putting up with until we no longer have to put up with it.
I hope nobody assumed the bubbly was champagne. It was a Spanish Cava. Cheap and cheerful, and perfectly adequate for our crude palates.
More bubbly this afternoon. It was the cardiac exercise group's Christmas bash. How exciting does that sound? Most people brought food in but one of the men brought a couple of bottles of Bucks Fizz.
I took a cake. I use a recipe that is perfect because it requires no cookery skills or judgement, and everyone likes it. You can usually guarantee that the phone will ring just as you need both hands to weigh and add the flour, and that it'll be someone you haven't spoken to for a while, with a million things to catch up on. Is there a worse time for the phone to ring? I can't think of one, unless it's when you're in the middle of stuffing a chicken.
I had an online shop delivered yesterday. The driver came right at the beginning of his one-hour slot, he was pleasant and efficient, and he got everything ready to bring in before he rang the doorbell. There were no substitutions, no mistakes, no missing seals, and nothing damaged. It'll be nice if they can keep it up. :) |
Reply #5280. Dec 19 12, 6:41 PM
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