Workmen & Mechanics

You know that feeling... the one where the light is on but no one is in? Mr. Mechanic seemed like that today

Oh boy, what a day today. It's really been non-stop, not so much in a physical way, but in more of a "hello, you must be the {insert workman description here}, please do come in and destroy the house" sort of way.

First up then was the glazier, who I'd arranged to come and replace the bathroom window from when the little gits smashed it with a catapult and stone. Please bare in mind that its only 9.30 in the morning and already 26 degrees and the window is exposed to the full glory of the morning sun. So by about 9.37 am the poor bloke is cooking up a right sweat, but he's managed to get the old window out and in almost one piece and is about ready to put in the new glass. I do the dutiful "would you like a drink before you pass out on my lawn" bit and with a bit of re-hydration he's sets about hoisting up the new glass and inserting it - only he measured the hole wrong and has to nip back to the work shop to get another bit. Eventually though it's all done, and he's made a very tidy job of it.

Next up involved a little bit of effort on my part. I'd rung around earlier in the day to see if there were any local garages that would repair a run flat tyre. I track one down and have arranged to take the car over to the garage so that they can see if the tyre is suitable for repairing or not.

So I tootle on down there, but as expected with my current run of very bad luck, the screw is apparently outside the repairable area. Typical! Not that I think I'd trust the bod to fix my tyre, considering he asked me where the spare was.... it doesn't have one!! Thats why it has runflats! Total despair on my part. But desperation overtakes my usual mental clarity and I arrange to get a tyre shipped in for him to fit tomorrow, cheaper than BMW by a tenner, but I have to wonder if it's a particularly wise move on my behalf.

I then come home and await the arrival of the locksmith who is coming to fit a 5 lever mortice lock onto our door, for a bit more anti-thieving git deterrent appeal. He arrives, and 2 HOURS later finally has finished the job, I mean he's done a very neat job, but 2 hours?

You hold the key to my... doorway!

So while to bloke was massacring the door, I do a bit more checking around for suppliers and fitters of run flat tyres. Phil mentions etyres.co.uk who do mobile fitting. So after a brief phone call with a sales rep and confirmation that they have the particular type of runflat that I require, the price they quote me is most welcome... £144 in total, so a further saving of £30 from BMW's prices. So I've arranged for them to come out and fit the tyre tomorrow, hopefully it will all go to plan. They are going to bring a repair kit too, so if they assess that the tyre is repairable they will be able to do that instead of replacing the tyre completely - though my hopes of that are dashed somewhat when the actual fitter who is coming rings me up and has a chat with me about repairs to runflats. Since we'd already driven 50 miles on the runflat (getting to and from the cinema) the likely hood of the tyre being fixable is slim, add to that the fact that the screw is closer to the outside edge than the midline of the tread, then basically we're screwed, as well as the tyre.

So in all quite a busy day for me today, with mucho to keep me from the grasping claws of boredom.

Posted by Abi on the July 11, 2005 9:48 PM