A new dishwasher was delivered here this morning, but its installation defeated the men who brought it. They couldn't manage to feed the hoses behind the adjacent cupboards to join the pipes under the sink. "We'll have to leave it," they said, the appliance still standing in the middle of the floor, "Maybe your husband could remove the kickplates and get the hoses through that way." Now Mr. C. is a man of many talents but general "handiness" isn't one of them; his brain may be mighty but his d.i.y. synapses aren't exactly firing on all cylinders.
When the men had gone, leaving me with a half-connected waste pipe which meant that running the tap flooded the floor, I had a look at the kickplates and decided they couldn't be removed by an unskilled labourer, even one with two degrees and his own electric screwdriver. The hoses would have to take another route to reach their destination, so Harriet and I spent the afternoon hunched beneath the sink and crouched behind the partially positioned machine, and with a deal of perseverance and the ingenious use of pliers, a mop and a pair of kitchen tongs we managed to get the hoses to meet the pipes, only to discover that one is just too short to make the connection.
It's back to the Marigolds and Fairy Liquid for a while longer, then, and while I'm up to my elbows in suds I shall ponder the definition of the term "installation" as used by high street retailers!
Infuriating isn't it?! I swear that their definition is always different to mine.
Posted by: Carol | 08 April 2008 at 06:27 PM
Oh, groan! That sounds soooo frustrating.
Posted by: Charity | 08 April 2008 at 07:13 PM
How quickly holidays can fade! Hope you're connected soon.
Posted by: Claire | 08 April 2008 at 07:30 PM
I've never heard of such a thing! How can this happen? All I can think of is the Peter Mayle books about the plumbers and carpenters in France leaving him in the lurch all the time. What is someone supposed to do? What if you were 80? Many questions, no answers, I guess.
Posted by: Nan | 08 April 2008 at 08:39 PM
Goodness! This would've really tried my patience! My husband is not one for DIY, either. This is why we pay to have things installed. I hope you get the situation resolved quickly!
Posted by: Les in NE | 08 April 2008 at 08:49 PM
Where's their honor, integrity, and manhood? Shame on them.
Good for you and Harriet in trying your best!
What's Mr C saying about the dilemma?
Posted by: Fiberjoy | 09 April 2008 at 06:17 AM
That's disgraceful! I recommend http://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/
for washing machine help. When mine went wrong they put me in touch very quickly with a nice local man who fixed it for less money than Miele would have charged for call-out. Good luck.
Posted by: Barbara | 09 April 2008 at 10:21 AM
You won't believe this, but it is absolutely true ... at a family gathering Easter weekend, sitting at the fire after dinner, after the dishes were done, my daughter said "I find you can have the most amazing conversations at the sink, up to your elbows in Fairy Liquid, as you wash and the other person dries." Confidences are shared; secrets leaked. I responded "Let's have a competition, right here and now, as I have a story that no one, but no one, can beat (of an occasion years ago with a house-trained gentleman visitor)." And out the stories came. The winner? Well, it's a long story....
Posted by: Barbara MacLeod | 09 April 2008 at 10:31 AM
Yes, I confess, I'm not that good at DIY - I prefer GALMI (get a little man in...). And it can't be a brains vs practicality thing: Peter the Flautist/aka Dark Puss is both a professor of physics and a competent plumber. Both of these accomplishments are entirely out of my reach!
Posted by: Mr Cornflower | 09 April 2008 at 12:09 PM