Tuesday 7 October 2008

30 Sept 2008 Tuesday – a full deck, but no flush

I have a lot to get done this morning before the builders arrive to install my porcelain. I whizz downstairs and have a shower. Move my car so that they will be able to park their van as close to the steps as possible then I take the masking tape and newspaper off the ceiling beams in the bathroom and pick up my newspaper ground sheet. I warm up a couple of pain au chocolat and make a caramel tea.
The phone rings. The builder’s wife is surprised that I know who is calling me. Her husband will not be able to come this morning. He has another job to finish elsewhere. I ask what time they will arrive and am told that it will be some time around 2pm. This will give me the chance to try and clean up the wall tiles a bit. I also unpack the pieces of my cube and begin assembly.
Where is the sunshine when you need it?

Builder turns up at about 3.30pm and I am kept busy cleaning old silicone off the shower cubicle and the separate doors unit. When we lift the latter so that I can clean the underside, the top corner of the unit snaps and a piece of the plastic flies out. He says “putain!”
After a few minutes he has an idea how to fix it. He will bring some stainless steel screws to secure it to the base.
He receives lots of calls on his mobile, usually when he is in the middle of doing something, so he is not amused. Then an old lady phones him in a panic because the light in her cooker hood has exploded. He promises to drop in on his way home at around 6pm.
By 6.10pm the shower cubicle and door assembly has all been siliconed together onto the shower tray and the toilet and cistern are perched ready but unconnected in the bathroom.
The wash hand basin is visible in his box. He is leaving now but will be back at 8.30am tomorrow. We then chat for half an hour discussing what I might do with two of my doors. One option would create privacy for the main bedroom. He will bring a catalogue to show me.
I tidy up and go back to making my cube. I am soon ready to put the last two bits i.e. the top and bottom shelves into place. %”%”$%$£!!!!!! They say history repeats itself and indeed it does. The first piece of the unit has been assembled upside down and I have to disassemble and start again.
I manage to do this in record time.
I make scrambled eggs and salmon and have a big purple plum for afters. I was going to have a peach too but it was a bit hard. It is now 8pm.
I have missed my favourite French TV programme for the 2nd day running. Wheel of fortune! Not quite like the British version with Nicky Campbell and Carole Smiley, this one has Christophe, his small jack russel? dog and an extremely slim and leggy blonde called Victoria. Christophe likes to assist the ladies with skimpy tops as they lean over to grasp the wheel handles ready to spin the wheel. The cameraman likes this too. This show goes out at 7pm and one contestant worked in a lingerie and sex shop. She brought a vibrator for Victoria and an inflatable cow for Christophe. You don’t get that kind of entertainment on prime time UK telly!

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