Rain, rain, go away

Vajraloka, May 2022

A while back I mentioned that the windows in Lola Towers are old and a bit leaky. A few have received attention as part of some other job, but it was time to replace the hinges on five upstairs windows. Doors and Windows Ulf arrived with sidekick and did the job, which included cleaning many of the old windows and adjusting a couple of the new doors that were giving a bit of trouble. He's a cheerful and helpful chap, and good to have around.

While he was up on the kitchen roof I took the opportunity of joining him to check the roof light, and to wipe it clean of moss to prevent leaks, as I'd been advised previously. Except this time it has had the opposite effect. At the moment I'm hoping for magical self-healing and have placed a towel on the kitchen worktop to catch the indoor precipitation, although Ulf has offered to come back and have a look when it finally stops raining. I am taking the same approach to my printer which is digging its heels in and refusing to function at all while reporting a non-existent paper jam. The Internet has offered a couple of fixes that haven't worked and then suggests contacting the manufacturer, which is usually a coded message for "time for a new printer."

My Buddhist study group has been in abeyance for a while, which gave me the opportunity to play badminton on a couple of Mondays. I miss that club! They are fun to be with and also to play with, and I look forward to the weeks when I can get there.

And, for the first time ever, I've been to our local theatre. I can't believe I've never done it before; it's a lovely little place by the river run by volunteers, with a small auditorium and a very cheap bar. UJ came with me to see Wyrd Sisters, a play based on the Terry Pratchett novel (which UJ has read), and we both enjoyed it. UJ commented in the interval that it isn't so easy for her without the subtitles, and she would have had the added difficulty of TP's very English puns and wordplay, and various characters were using quite thick regional accents, but I think she got the gist.

I'm hoping for an appearance soon by guest bloggers Lola II and/or Mr M to describe our adventures in London and Leamington, but until then, a last note regarding a message I received from mum. Over the years as maintenance has been needed she has discovered some staggering incompetence on the part of the tradesmen involved in the building of an extension, including the heating thermostat on the wall being entirely decorative, a pump installed the wrong way round, and much more. This time the downstairs toilet flush needed a bit of help and the plumber was duly called. In the course of his work he discovered, unbelievably, that it was plumbed into the hot water supply and has presumably been so ever since its installation by what must have been the most incompetent tradesman ever employed.