The new Dishwasher Arrives

First of all a big "Well done" to WashTech the delivery went as smoothly as you would hope.  The call was received 30 minutes before delivery.  The van arrived on time and the new dishwasher was sat in the kitchen well within the delivery window.
We swiftly removed the packaging and set about de-installing the old dishwasher. I turned the water off on the connector, unplugged the power,  unclipped the drain hose, undid the water supply pipe and streams of water hit the bottom of the cupboard under the sink.  As usual the strange little plastic tap that is put on the end of the water pipe had failed.  I have never had one last more than a couple of years.  There was a rush to the mains tap to turn the water off to the whole house.  It is hidden in the corner of the kitchen, near the floor and very difficult to get to.  With the flooding stopped and the dogs towels used to dry the floor we moved the old machine outside.
Putting the new one in place I noticed that the water supply pipe was slightly shorter than the old one, which only just reached the tap.  Sure enough it didn't reach - just short by the depth of the connector (1 cm or less), but it could not be persuaded, and pipes should not really be stretched and bent like that.  The route required meant that the pipe had to come up over the back of the cupboard and down again to the end of the pipe, which faces downward. Another hole was made in the backing of the cupboard under the sink to straighten the path, the second hole that has been required (both times in 'emergencies').  This one is as ugly as the first.  With a little forethought and proper planning by the kitchen installers could have left those holes in the boards neatly cut.  We paid for a quality kitchen, we did not get one.
The good news is that the dishwasher is up and running, the plates & dishes, knives & forks, and the saucepans and pots will be cleaner than they have been for a while.

The Kitchen - Day 9

Day 9 was last Friday, when the tiler returned to finish of some parts that he had cheekily left out. The workmen have finished, the fridge and freezer are due on Friday.

Kitchen Re-fit

The Kitchen - Day 8 and The Collation of The Reverend Paul Anthony Carr as Rector of the Benefice and Parish of Christ Church , Emmanuel, Saint ...

I ran out of Characters well before the title of the service was finished!

The tiling in the Kitchen is now complete, and it looks very nice. Next is the flooring, and then it's my turn again - to paint the ceiling and the woodwork, so the debate about the colours has started.

In the evening was the service to allow the new rector of Billericay to begin his ministry. the title is too long for me to type it again. Is was also St. Barnabas Day, and the bishop told us of the various controversies that Barnabus was involved in. Meanwhile, I am looking forward to working with Paul.

The Kitchen - Day 7

The tiler arrived and has completed a good part of the kitchen. The smell cannot be blogged (or at least you cannot experience it through the blog. He and his mate will be back at 7.30am tomorrow, so I'll have to be up early.

The rest of today was spent:

• Gardening - weeding mainly
• Church Admin - planning the worship rota and the changes from last nights meeting
• Driving - with Liz, who still hasn't blogged her news.
• Downloading - ISO images for Linux, so I will let you know how that goes
• Cleaning up the PC - to make space
• Business Planning - Preparing to run my own business.
• Applying for jobs, and had someone ring me within 90 minutes of submitting my CV. Could be interesting.
  

On Sunday, I checked to see if there was a lead article for the Church magazine. There wasn't - so I quickly created on Sunday evening, because there really has to be one. Yesterday one arrived from another source, which will be used as the lead article (the right thing to do), mine will be the second article. Still I lack the faith to let God do his work, and make my life harder as a result.

The Kitchen - Day 6

Apparently there is no day 6 as no-one turned up until mid-afternoon. He was just the van driver, and told us that the next thing will happen tomorrow. So we will expect the wall tiler, as we did today.

The Kitchen - Day 5 (Friday)

The Kitchen is finished, except for the floor and the wall tiles. Then the contractors leave and its down to me to do the decorating. We have started to re-occupy the room, but it's odd because it isn't really finished.

The Kitchen - Day 4

Today the units were fitted and the kitchen looks like a kitchen - well almost. Last thing the floor was covered in latex, ready for the application of the floor tiles. The microwave was fitted.
More pictures are in the web album, but they are limited, as access to the kitchen was not allowed - the latex must be allowed to dry without any footprints being added.

I have started researching the possibility of running my own home PC support business. The government have loads of information, I have registered my interest, and have started reading. Shortly after I did this the power went off, and that was it for the day, or for my day anyway.

While the power was off I inspected the lawn. I had sprinkled some weed killer granules on the lawn. Unfortuneately the Tesco spreader system does not work. so in some places the lawn is no more. It has even killed the grass. In other places there has been no effect on the weeds at all. Back to the liquid ones I think.

The Kitchen - Day 3

On Day 3 we got plastered. The walls and ceiling are now lookin smooth and dark. The plaster will dry out slowly, then after the units are fitted the the tiler will com.
I am always impressed with plasterers - they get the wall looking so smooth, and they seem to be able so cover with almost no depth.

On the emplyment front there is no more follow-up from either of the contacts.

The Kitchen - Day 2

The holes in the walls have been filled in, the electrics are ready to the point of plastering, and the guys were sitting waiting for things to be delivered. Eventually everything came. The cooker, the flooring, and the wall tiles are all here.
I have also purchased the light, and the door - the only things that I have to buy separately. I really do not understand why the Kitchen company cannot do this. To me it seems it should be trivial for them, but is anything but trivial for me.
The light was simple, go to the high street electrical store and choose one, then pick it up the next day. Trying to buy the door was most interesting. What I want is simple - a plain standard internal door, but 24 inches wide, not the usual 30. All the major DIY stores do not stock them, except one. Most cannot even order them. Jewsons had three, so all I had to do was find it. The google directions are wrong (or I completely mis-interpreted them), and I had an interesting trip to Witham.
So Galleywood Kitchens have their first cheque, and I am requesting the money for the other workers they are sub-contracting for us. They do not have any concerns about how we pay for the rest of it, so if these cheques bounce that's the sub-contractors problem.

Yesterdays pictures are in the album:

Kitchen Re-fit

After weeks of nothing I had 2 interviews today. Both were only for screening purposes, but it was good to have some interest in my abilities.

The Kitchen - Day 1

At last, at last it has started. We seem to have been working on this project forever, in reality it has only been two years or so. Today was day 1 of the kitchen re-fit. All the units have been removed - they were falling apart anyway. The floor and wall tiles have gone, and much of the old pipework from before we arrived is once again exposed. The cooker has also gone, it was becoming difficult to light. The fridge has found a temporary home in the lounge and is supporting the microwave. The freezer has been exiled to the garage where it will see out its days. A new fridge and freezer have been ordered. The washing machine and dishwasher are disconnected and 'resting' in the garage. The car is parked on the street, and will have to survive up to 75 mm (about 3 inches) of rain if the forecast is correct.

The power and water was off for a considerable time. At pensioners praise I found myself saying, as part of my sermon on "Gods gift in Creation", how much I missed access to fresh, clean and drinkable water. The loss of power, and the resultant separation from keyboard and screen didn't seem to worry me! It is not lost on me how fortunate I am to live in a country that provides drinkable water through pipes and into the house, most countries do not. Neither is it lost on me how fortunate I am to be able to re-fit my Kitchen!
As I said in my sermon, in a more round about way - that too is a Gift from God

Here is Jo taking pictures of the Kitchen in its barest state. The reconstruction has started - but only just.

Southwark Bridge

After the lunacy that was happening last week I needed a walk, so I strolled over to the Tate Modern. For once it wasn't the art that caught my eye. It seems there is work going on to narrow the bridge. Southwark bridge is one of the few places in London where the traffic flows reasonably freely. Not true of the road it feeds on the North Bank of the Thames though. That's more congested now than before the infamous congestion charge was applied. The congestion charge is exactly what it says - a charge to sit in congestion - rarely has anything been so accurately named.

I digress - and I shouldn't do that.

Where this photo was taken there has often been a string of coaches parked. The passengers are visiting the Globe or the Tate. Apart from the steep steps down to the Thames its ideal. Close to the attractions and easy to find when you have to return. Where have the coaches gone? Where will the visitors have to return to? I have no idea.

I'm just convinced, in my grumpy old man way, that the people who lead London are doing their very best to remove cars from the city altogether, and with them of course the lorries and coaches. There will be only bendy-busses, cyclists and pedestrians soon.

Perhaps I should phone the number and ask WHY?

I will try to remember to get another picture at the end of February so you can see the effect its had on the road width.

Anyway back to the art. I was very pleased to see one exhibit in particular. Sorry no picture - mainly because I don't think its allowed, and the guard was rather suspicious of me as I looked really very closely at the exhibit. What was it?


A piece of marble - remarkable similar to one of the work tops we are thinking about for the kitchen. Really remarkably similar. Too square for my purposes though, and probably too heavy to carry on the train, and then there's that guard of course looking at me suspiciously. Perhaps now I know why.

Decorating - the finished article; Kitchens the unfinishing task

The finished article:
I can't do anything about the Kitchen, we have ANOTHER fitter coming to do an estimate tomorrow. There is quite a saga to this. The outcome is that nothing has happened. We have been to lots of places, they are either:

• ignoring us
• get into financial difficulties
• producing estimates that are WAY beyond our resources
• lacking imagination
• lacking understanding of the requirement !!
• lacking real interest in the job
• failing to deliver a quote
• offer 'dodgy deals'

... can't wait for tomorrow!

P.S. Still no progress on the hall either.

Easter Sunday

There is always so much planned, and so little achieved. "I was going to ..." seems to be the story of my life. Sometimes its a result of poor calculation - I really can't write a sermon in eight hours, especially one that must be assessed. Shopping always takes longer that I expect. We have had another attempt at looking at Kitchens. We went to Wicks and MFI, we already have three of four quotes. None of it is very inspiring. Everything we look at is insubstantial, and easily broken. Most of the things in the show rooms have damage. I'd just like this one to last as long as the current one - about 15 years. Not much chance of that if its broken in a few weeks of display in the store. We had Mike and Liz with us, they had things to do at various shops. So we went to Pizza Hut for lunch, and then home. Mike went to work and Liz, Jo and I to my sisters for her youngests family Birthday. There I succumbed to the sinus infection that kept me out of action most of yesterday. So all the great Easter Sunday services were missed. God does work in mysterious ways.