Adventures of a Plumber's Mate...

9am
Spotted stain on bedroom ceiling. Found leak in loft. It was the bathroom toilet cistern. A bolt had cracked. When I touched the bolt it broke completely and emptied the contents of the cistern flooding the bathroom and leaking down through the house! Towels, towels, towels! And a bucket. I had one finger in the hole, water spurting in my face and trying to fumble for a screwdriver to turn off the water feed. Adventures of a Plumber's Mate is was not.

10am
Mopped up most of the water. Hmmm, call plumber or self-fix?

11am
Decision made. I'm going to don my swimming trunks and water-wings and fix this leak myself. Hey, it's only *water* after all. Ok, it's water under mains pressure... (Hands up who *doesn't* think I'll be calling a plumber within 5 mins?)

Noon
Floor all but dried out. Just preparing the surrounding area around the hole in the cistern where the (non-essential) holding bolt was. I'm going to plug it with cotton-wool, double-sided Sellotape, brown-paper, a self-addressed envelope, some string, sealing wax and super glue. Professional? Me?

1pm
All fixed. Used super glue and mirror sealant. In bucket loads. Just need to wait a week or two for everything to dry and set.

Thames Water: Assessed Household Charge...

How much do you pay for your local water rates? Up until recently mine was £443.34 a year. But then I discovered a little known rate - something called the Assessed Household Charge.
First I asked for a free water meter from Thames Water. They came round, did a quick survey and said that it couldn't be fitted as I have a flat and there was no space for it under the sink. They then moved me onto the much cheaper Assessed Household Charge. So I how pay just £228.76 a year. Result!
Find out more about the Assessed Household Charge on these rather well hidden pages here and and FAQ here. What have you got to lose (but a fat bill)?

Mr Jingles...

I have one of those friends who posts status updates to the our favourite social web service to inform all of *everything* that happens in her life. Recently, her status updates ran thusly

15:46 ...has just rescued a mouse from a horrible sticky mouse trap. Sooo cruel it was just, like, glued there! yay me!

16:11 Turns out the mouse lost quite a lot of fur and skin on his poor belly from the trap. I'm gonna nurse him all better and call him Mr Jingles like in the Green Mile!

16:39 Has just given Mr Jingles a soothing bath/wash and is gonna build him a little home to live in! He gonna be a circus mouse! ;o)

16:54 Mr Jingles is nibbling away at biscuit crumbs! Soooooo cute!

17:44 Would anyone like to come to Mr Jingles housewarming party? Hee hee! Found an old wooden box in the garage and have put some cotton wool and an old catbowl of water in there for him! Don't tell anyone I've taken in a lodger! Hee Hee! x

18:29 OMG! I was only gone 5 minutes and Mr Jingles drowned in his waterbowl :o( :o(