Wow, the last 24 hours have been hectic!
So I'm sat in the taxi office last night about 7.30pm when I get a call on the mobile from my frantic lodger screaming that there's water pouring through the kitchen ceiling and all he did was have a bath, what to do!!!!!!!!!!!
Honest to God, it was just like off one of those awful Direct Line adverts; I asked if the water I could hear in the background sounding like Niagara Falls was indeed the water coming through the ceiling and he said yes. OH. MY. GOD. So I direct him to the stop-cock and got him to switch it off.
Now, I work alone in the taxi office so I can't just up and leave unfortunately so I phoned the boss and he came into the office about half hour later so I could go home. In the meantime, I'd got my mate Kev to get round my house to make sure the electricity was turned off as the water had been pumping through the kitchen light fittings.
Anyhow, I got home and told the lodger to do himself a favour and find somewhere else to stay for the night and he left and I got to trying to find my insurance documentation in the semi-dark. Well, it was getting dark and obviously there was no electric in the house so it was pretty dark, or at least getting there!
I remembered that I'd bought this silly little 20 insurance policy just to cover drainage and plumbing so I dug that paperwork up and called the 24 hour hotline. They said they'd get a plumber to call me back in about 2 hours. I then dug out my buildings and contents insurance and when I checked that, I realised that as I was in my 10th claim-free year with the company, they'd given me free emergency cover and legal cover, woohoo! So I gave them a quick call and they said as I already had someone coming out, to just give them a ring in the morning when the claims department opens to get the ball rolling with regards to the damage.
So, a very helpful plumber was at my house at about midnight in the end and basically the waste pipe has broken away from the bath so when the lodger had his bath and emptied it, the entire contents of the bath emptied straight onto the floor, seeping through to the kitchen below!
The upshot is that all that lovely work I've just had finishing off the kitchen nicely was a complete waste of my money and time. I was a little upset last night when I saw the water still dripping through the light fittings and the panicked state my lodger was in but now I'm seeing it as an opportunity:
The carpet has been damaged - this will have to be replaced - this makes me very happy as the carpet in the lounge is probably as old as I am!
Me and Tessie have had to move to Southampton as my mate Sars has offered to put us up for the weekend - the water is back on now and the waste pipe has been replaced but I can't put the electricity on for a bit still because I need to make sure all the wiring is dry first.
I've come into the taxi office tonight to work because there was no cover but I've taken the next few nights off and used it as holiday so that's sorted out.
This is the first time I've been able to get online since the flood but Sars does have broadband so I'm hoping that I'll be able to get online again tomorrow, once she's showed me how to connect to her wireless router! Her Mum has also invited me to a barbeque tomorrow with Sars and the rest of the family so that's really nice too - I hope we have a bit of sun in that case; it's been pretty cloudy the last couple of days although still bloody hot!
Anyway, that's me for now. Hopefully the building and carpet contractors will contact me on Monday and make arrangements to come and assess the damage but until then, I'll be living in Southampton - this is another good opportunity as I can now start house-hunting while I'm there Try before I rent if you like - I can see if I like living in that area etc. so the fact that I've been wondering lately whether I should actually move or not has now made me more sure that getting out of Gosport is definitely the right thing to do!
I'm not going to go on anymore. I'm extremely tired, drained and I've got to take Tessie out for a quick wee - I had to bring her into work with me tonight because she's freaked out enough and needs to be with her mummy.
We're going to treat the rest of this weekend like a little holiday and worry about the fucking shithouse ceiling having to be knocked down and rebuilt next week when I absolutely have to.
Much love to you all.
xx
PS: I saw my ex, Martin tonight on the way to work - it was awesome!! I haven't seen him since March 1999 when he got me arrested. He bumped into my mum a few months ago and asked about Tessie, to see if she was still alive and was delighted when my mum said how well she was doing! Still being lairy and a spoilt lil madam etc.
So, tonight, after nearly 10 years, I pulled up in my van beside him at a roundabout, tooted my horn and then smiled. Cheeky get, didn't have a clue who I was!! Anyway, then I pointed to Tessie jumping around on my lap and his face started beaming!! I'm still not sure if he recognised either of us, but he certainly had a massive smile on his face when he looked at Tessie so I hope he did realise who she was. This has made my day today. I don't care what he thinks of me but I'm chuffed to nuts that he saw Tessie and smiled
So I'm sat in the taxi office last night about 7.30pm when I get a call on the mobile from my frantic lodger screaming that there's water pouring through the kitchen ceiling and all he did was have a bath, what to do!!!!!!!!!!!
Honest to God, it was just like off one of those awful Direct Line adverts; I asked if the water I could hear in the background sounding like Niagara Falls was indeed the water coming through the ceiling and he said yes. OH. MY. GOD. So I direct him to the stop-cock and got him to switch it off.
Now, I work alone in the taxi office so I can't just up and leave unfortunately so I phoned the boss and he came into the office about half hour later so I could go home. In the meantime, I'd got my mate Kev to get round my house to make sure the electricity was turned off as the water had been pumping through the kitchen light fittings.
Anyhow, I got home and told the lodger to do himself a favour and find somewhere else to stay for the night and he left and I got to trying to find my insurance documentation in the semi-dark. Well, it was getting dark and obviously there was no electric in the house so it was pretty dark, or at least getting there!
I remembered that I'd bought this silly little 20 insurance policy just to cover drainage and plumbing so I dug that paperwork up and called the 24 hour hotline. They said they'd get a plumber to call me back in about 2 hours. I then dug out my buildings and contents insurance and when I checked that, I realised that as I was in my 10th claim-free year with the company, they'd given me free emergency cover and legal cover, woohoo! So I gave them a quick call and they said as I already had someone coming out, to just give them a ring in the morning when the claims department opens to get the ball rolling with regards to the damage.
So, a very helpful plumber was at my house at about midnight in the end and basically the waste pipe has broken away from the bath so when the lodger had his bath and emptied it, the entire contents of the bath emptied straight onto the floor, seeping through to the kitchen below!
The upshot is that all that lovely work I've just had finishing off the kitchen nicely was a complete waste of my money and time. I was a little upset last night when I saw the water still dripping through the light fittings and the panicked state my lodger was in but now I'm seeing it as an opportunity:
The carpet has been damaged - this will have to be replaced - this makes me very happy as the carpet in the lounge is probably as old as I am!
Me and Tessie have had to move to Southampton as my mate Sars has offered to put us up for the weekend - the water is back on now and the waste pipe has been replaced but I can't put the electricity on for a bit still because I need to make sure all the wiring is dry first.
I've come into the taxi office tonight to work because there was no cover but I've taken the next few nights off and used it as holiday so that's sorted out.
This is the first time I've been able to get online since the flood but Sars does have broadband so I'm hoping that I'll be able to get online again tomorrow, once she's showed me how to connect to her wireless router! Her Mum has also invited me to a barbeque tomorrow with Sars and the rest of the family so that's really nice too - I hope we have a bit of sun in that case; it's been pretty cloudy the last couple of days although still bloody hot!
Anyway, that's me for now. Hopefully the building and carpet contractors will contact me on Monday and make arrangements to come and assess the damage but until then, I'll be living in Southampton - this is another good opportunity as I can now start house-hunting while I'm there
Try before I rent if you like - I can see if I like living in that area etc. so the fact that I've been wondering lately whether I should actually move or not has now made me more sure that getting out of Gosport is definitely the right thing to do!I'm not going to go on anymore. I'm extremely tired, drained and I've got to take Tessie out for a quick wee - I had to bring her into work with me tonight because she's freaked out enough and needs to be with her mummy.
We're going to treat the rest of this weekend like a little holiday and worry about the fucking shithouse ceiling having to be knocked down and rebuilt next week when I absolutely have to.
Much love to you all.
xx
PS: I saw my ex, Martin tonight on the way to work - it was awesome!! I haven't seen him since March 1999 when he got me arrested. He bumped into my mum a few months ago and asked about Tessie, to see if she was still alive and was delighted when my mum said how well she was doing! Still being lairy and a spoilt lil madam etc.
So, tonight, after nearly 10 years, I pulled up in my van beside him at a roundabout, tooted my horn and then smiled. Cheeky get, didn't have a clue who I was!! Anyway, then I pointed to Tessie jumping around on my lap and his face started beaming!! I'm still not sure if he recognised either of us, but he certainly had a massive smile on his face when he looked at Tessie so I hope he did realise who she was. This has made my day today. I don't care what he thinks of me but I'm chuffed to nuts that he saw Tessie and smiled VIEW 10 of 10 COMMENTS
xx