Diem horribilem

Indeed it was a horrible day today.  It started when we discovered that there was no hot water for showers and that the boiler had stopped working.  Sara tried to start it on several occasions but to no avail.  To compound the problem, we also discovered that the immersion heater had stopped working too - so we only had cold water.  I was due to leave for Liverpool this morning but Malcolm's mother had fallen and broken her wrist so the trip up to Merseyside was delayed until Saturday.  Just as well as it turned out.  We were able to get Mark, the heating engineer in the village to come out and have a look at the problem.  The immersion heater was soon fixed - a secondary thermostat had tripped off - but the boiler was a bigger problem.  Apparently, there is nothing wrong with the boiler but the exit value from the oil tank has corroded and needs replacing.  The only way to replace it is to empty the oil tank which, we realised, was full to the brim having only recently been filled!  This means that the contents need to be pumped out into a temporary tank whilst the value is replaced.  To add to the problem, the tank specialist can't do that at the moment as he can't get the temporary tank down our drive because of all the building materials in the drive (skip, bricks, breeze blocks, cement bags etc. etc.).  Sara then discovered that she had triple booked herself this evening - agreeing to babysit, attend a Jamie Oliver party and do makeovers for the teenage girls at the Youth Zone as well as agreeing to letting Mary have a friend sleep-over tonight.  The builders needed paying today so I had to make a special trip to the bank in Salisbury, a client wanted me to look at some terms and conditions for an audit which his company is about to have and I had to write some letters.  As I write this, the cat seems to be having a seizure - fur balls I think.  To help Sara out, I agreed to do the babysitting (which I was told was until 10 p.m. - the parents returned just before midnight!) but I did manage to look at the terms and conditions and make some amendments on my .  We also need to decide what items in the garage need to be moved to Robin Hill Farm because the builders have announced that they will be taking the roof off the garage on Monday.  In a way, I shall be glad to be away in Liverpool and Lincolnshire for a few days.  With my Selection Conference only two-weeks away I certainly think I'm being tested.  A few days ago I was thinking I needed some more stimulus in my life - the moral of this story is be careful what you pray for!  Today seemed like being back at work full time!