A Watery Friday

An early start for Dorking today for a 9 a.m. telephone conference on the Manx problem. We had no hot water for a shower so I turned on the boiler for constant hot water and heating at Sara's instruction. When I arrived there were only two others in. The traffic was very light and this morning and the weather bright but cold. I had to defrost the car before setting out. My 1:1 with my manager went well and we covered a lot of topics in a short time. Lunch of the usual Friday fish and chips was followed by two further meetings in the afternoon - one with the new HR Employment Relations Manager and the other a teleconference with our Swedish lawyers. It is looking ever more likely that I will be visiting Stockholm in late April unless a settlement can be reached. I gave Anthony a lift to Grateley Station and dropped him on the newly opened side of the station (London bound) to catch a train to Salisbury. Unfortunately a train was already in the Salisbury-bound platform and I noticed he didn't cross the bridge in time to catch it. Never mind, there is only a 30 minutes wait for the next one and there is a pub on the other side. I arrived on time for the Leader's/Helper's pre-meeting session for the Alpha course but, immediately after the prayers, I received a phone call from Dawn, who was child-minding because Sara was also out at a Virgin Vie Party in Downton, to say that water was pouring down the wall in the hall and my signed Titanic painting was damaged. I managed to back out of Hamish's parent's drive and get home to discover that the immersion heater gasket appeared to be damaged primarily it seemed because nobody had turned off the constant hot water at the boiler and the water in the tank was scalding hot having damaged the fitting. Dawn and I mopped up as best we could and wrapped the damaged area with flannels and towels. There being nothing further I could do without a plumber and returned to the Alpha Course where a plate of supper was saved for me. Tonight Nicky Gumbel discussed evil and the Devil and how we as Christians can combat it. It led to a lively discussion afterwards principally from Petra. Back home, the cat, Emily, tried to cadge a lift back with Dawn in her car. Emily seems to be quite attracted to her. Sara returned after a good evening but we need to do something urgently about the immersion leak. Hopefully it won't require a new tank.