Zel's Fleet Blog - BX, Jag XJ-S, Sinclair C5, Mercedes 208D & 230TE, AC Model 70.

[CitroJim]

That is shocking Zel

And unforgivable.... Your house is not exactly a shrinking violet is it

[Zelandeth]

It is kinda visible! Wonder if we should reinstate the 25m flag pole that was in the side garden when the place was built...

[CitroJim]

It is kinda visible! Wonder if we should reinstate the 25m flag pole that was in the side garden when the place was built...

Yes, with a big arrow on the flag and with a legend saying "Yodel, this is the house you're looking for!"

That flag pole could make a very good HF amateur radio aerial too

[myglaren]

While it may not be of great use in your current case Zel, I stumbled over this recently, possibly on autoshite.

What3Words
It divides the world into 3-metre squares and gives each one a unique three-word reference (some of which are hilarious)
My youngest daughter's house was an absolute nightmare to find, postcode of no use whatsoever.
Found her house on what3words and then opened that three word location in Google Maps that drew the rout right to her door.
Naturally she moved out the following day but it was an interesting exercise.
-one of the reference words was "Burying" which was rather apt, as the house is behind an undertakers (not her employers though) and she is am embalmer

ETA: I received a rather nice package today - delivered by Yodel without any problems whatsoever

[van ordinaire]

I try to avoid buying stuff from people who use couriers, every one of which never misses a chance to confirm they're incapable of doing something Royal Mail's been doing for 100 years.

They may have a place in the comercial sector, or where, e.g. overnight delivery is important but for most of us who need stuff left at the house while we're a work they are completely useless.

[mickeymoon]

I have a friend who up until recently had been a courier for 12-13 years. One of his major bugbears was people who order stuff to be delivered at home and know damn well they're not going to be in. It's nearly always in their T&Cs with a client that they get a signature - they can't just "leave it somewhere safe" if the client has requested it is all signed for. He used to get grief daily from customers berating him for not suddenly being able to drop what he's doing and return to them at 6pm, or demand he brings it back the next day at x time. Totally unfair on the drivers.

[Zelandeth]

Going to be one of those days. Tomorrow I need to track down a heating engineer.

Found a gas leak on the feed to the open fireplace in the Purple Room. Not panicking about it as it's very small, and I only noticed it because I've got a very acute sense of smell. Only found it today because I stumbled across some of my old refrigerant leak detector spray in the garage... I'd already gone over it with soapy water and nothing showed, as I'd been aware of a very faint smell in there ever since we moved in from time to time. So yes, proper leak detector spray is way better than plain old fairy liquid and water.

Looks like a compression fitting has been cross threaded - and has been like that as far as I can tell since 1986 when the fire was installed - and probably leaking since then!

It's in a totally separate wing of the house with all power off and two windows ajar, so I'm not worried about it until tomorrow. Annoying there's no way to cut the supply to that room without shutting down the rest of the house - and I don't want to do that as there's a good chance the boiler will refuse to relight once shut down (the thermocouple tends to fail if cooled after being lit for a long time)...And I'd be stupid in the current legal climate to touch that - irrespective of whether I'm capable and competent to do so.

...Apparently more capable than the engineer who installed the fire in the Purple Room and cross threaded the nut on that elbow!

One of those weeks this is...

[RichardW]

There's nothing in the gas safety regs that requires you to be Gas Safe for doing your own work - you just have to be competent. Get the boiler hot; knock the gas off, whip the nut off the comp fitting, stick some calor tight on it, nip it back up, gas back on - 5 minute job, boiler will not even have cooled!

[mickeymoon]

How do you prove competency? Certification....

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

[CitroJim]

I always do my own gas work...

[Zelandeth]

Interesting how different views are on different forums, got a right ear full somewhere else for even suggesting that I so much as look at any gas related repairs (was sorting a dry solder joint in a boiler timer PCB), not even taking the cover off the thing itself.

I've picked up a replacement fitting today (in case the threads in the one in situ are shot), and will get it sorted in the morning. Should be a five minute job all being well.

[myglaren]

Friend at work called at his dad's house yesterday.
Found his sister (a police officer) sitting on the doorstep and all the doors and windows open.
They had had smart meters fitted the previous day. She came home to find the house full of gas from an incompetently fitted coupling - by a qualified gas fitter.
Lights in the room were on a timer, could have been catastrophic had the timer operated the breaker for the lights.

[Zelandeth]

Seems strangely similar to my having to spend several hours shortly after moving in here sorting out the wiring above our main bathroom. This had been supposedly done by a suitably qualified electrician on behalf of a major high street branded bathroom fitter.

Cabling everywhere, some of it still on the drums, LV transformers actually sitting on top (and melted to) the lamps, and two live cables left dangling in the middle of nowhere hidden under the insulation. Glad I found those with the meter rather than my fingers.

It's still messy (on the to do list), but is at least actually safe now!

[CitroJim]

Just goes to show that qualified does not automatically equal a good job...

The old adage that if you want a good job done then do it yourself still very much holds true in all spheres...

[mickeymoon]

Just goes to show that qualified does not automatically equal a good job...

The old adage that if you want a good job done then do it yourself still very much holds true in all spheres...

I agree totally Jim, however, the issue, as ever, is that if you do blow something up/electrocute/drown someone, then the authorities go "oh, you're not certified, you're clearly incompetent".

Our last plumber was an alcoholic f-wit, who couldn't find his the hole in his backside if he used both hands. He was, however, certified... ridiculous really!