The Nice People Thread, No.16: A Universe of Niceness.

GDB2222

A new boiler is around £600 in parts, and it takes a day to fit. For reasons totally beyond me, that day's work somehow or other costs £1000+.

PasturesNew

GDB2222 wrote: »

A new boiler is around £600 in parts, and it takes a day to fit. For reasons totally beyond me, that day's work somehow or other costs £1000+.

I always assumed that from start to finish ... I'd have to part with £2-3k for a new one.

I will definitely ask him .... and I'll also get quotes for the repair and quotes for a new one if that looks feasible from his quote. Then (if the others are cheaper) I'll go back to him with a "can you match that price" offer, before choosing ... I'd like to be "loyal", although, in reality, he's "just a bloke who happens to live close by and did my service last year" so I've no "used him for years" level of loyalty... but at least he's a face I know, that's been known to turn up and appears competent (and, yes, is registered as gas safe)

What surprised me today was ... he just left. Never asked me for anything for what he's done today (2 blokes on site with a van for 15 minutes) ..... I'd have expected him to ask for "£X .... and I'll get you a quote" if he was leaving! I'd been to the bank yesterday to "tool up" my purse with some readies.

gt568

PasturesNew wrote: »

Well, I thought he was outside, about to return, but he's gone.... so I guess quotes aren't done by looking up a price list and adding on his labour off the top of his head

Ariston, 9 years old.

Or he's thought, I'm not touching this and done a runner. :eek:

PasturesNew

gt568 wrote: »

Or he's thought, I'm not touching this and done a runner.

LOL... stop it .... now, even though I don't believe that for one minute, it's on my mind!

SingleSue

Pyxis wrote: »

I have never, ever sharpened a pencil with a knife, despite having been a girl-guide and having had my own Swiss Army-type penknife.

I suppose it was just easier, and safer, to use a pencil sharpener!

I still use pencils a lot...... for crosswords, Futoshiki and Kakuro and other puzzles. I don't like doing them online.....I like to make notes and try things out. Plus I use the sort with an eraser on the end.

Unfortunately, over the years, the quality of the eraser tips has deteriorated alarmingly...... I got my last job lot of favourite tipped pencils over the Internet about two years ago....... the self-same brand, which used to be made in England, is now made in ? China, and the erasers are useless.

When my job lot runs out, I will have to use propelling pencils with replaceable eraser tips. I don't like propelling pencils, because the lead tips often break or lose sharpness.

Mind you eraser-tip pencils weren't all that economical, because when the eraser ran out, I didn't want to carry on using the pencil, so have loads of redundant pencils! It's a shame they never invented an ordinary pencil where you could replace the little eraser tips.

By the way, I've tried the ones you can buy and stick on the end of pencils, but they weren't any good either. For Sudoku, Futoshiki and Kakuro, you need a very small eraser edge so that you can rub out just one of your tiny number options in the square.


I'm sounding like a pencil nerd, aren't I? :rotfl::rotfl:

Perhaps I should buy that book after all! :rotfl:




NB.....Can anyone think of a use for redundant pencils?

Youngest does drawings with pencils, normal ones not art ones...think his favourite is a 2b.

PasturesNew

SingleSue wrote: »

Youngest does drawings with pencils, normal ones not art ones...think his favourite is a 2b.

My favourite replacement pencil for a proper shorthand pencil years ago was always a 2B. You can buy proper shorthand pencils ... but, if there's not one to hand, then a 2B is the closest you're likely to find in an office setting.

They're lovely and soft, yet not too soft. Ideal pencils.

2B pencils are my favourites too.

Jackmydad

GDB2222 wrote: »

A new boiler is around £600 in parts, and it takes a day to fit. For reasons totally beyond me, that day's work somehow or other costs £1000+.

No, I'm all for independent tradesmen making a decent living, but I don't see how it's £1000 for a day's work.

PasturesNew

Not interested, just something else that amused me....

".... of particular interest are the chimney stacks which are a feature of the original architect Mr Benjamin Ferrey."

All I see is: Thundering great expensive liabilities, looming dangerously over my head every night I go to bed.... especially if it's windy.

People have died when stuff like that's come through the roof

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-70026532.html

Pyxis

PasturesNew wrote: »

Not interested, just something else that amused me....

".... of particular interest are the chimney stacks which are a feature of the original architect Mr Benjamin Ferrey."

All I see is: Thundering great expensive liabilities, looming dangerously over my head every night I go to bed.... especially if it's windy.

People have died when stuff like that's come through the roof

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-70026532.html

Pastures!

My house is 129 years old this year. It's got two chimneys. They are also 129 years old! They withstood the great 'hurricane' of 1987 and countless fierce winds since!

They ain't going anywhere!

I have never heard of a house chimney collapsing into a house.
You stand far more chance of having an RTA when out in your car!



Those chimneys are bee-oo-tifull! I'd kill to have those on my house!
The rest of the house looks lovely too!

Is it really only 285K?

GDB2222

Pyxis wrote: »

Pastures!

My house is 129 years old this year. It's got two chimneys. They are also 129 years old! They withstood the great 'hurricane' of 1987 and countless fierce winds since!

They ain't going anywhere!

I have never heard of a house chimney collapsing into a house.
You stand far more chance of having an RTA when out in your car!



Those chimneys are bee-oo-tifull! I'd kill to have those on my house!
The rest of the house looks lovely tooM

That's lovely, isn't it. Shame the place is called Tincleton.

I have heard of the occasional chimney stack collapsing. We had to have a couple of stacks removed that were leaning badly. The prevailing wind blows rain against the brickwork, and that erodes the mortar on one side of the chimney nore than the other. There was no danger of them collapsing immediately, but it was obvious the work needed doing.