Not a great day...

[tut]

It started when I went to order central heating oil for next week from the company I have an account with, to be told it would be mid January before they could deliver. As I use a 3,000 litre tank in five weeks in Winter, I can not fill up before the bad weather comes, have to go on a time basis. To add insult to injury I paid 45p/litre in November and it is now 70p. Looks like a cold Xmas.

Luke left College in Middlesbrough at midday to drive home for Xmas hols, I got a phone call at 1400 to say that he had had an accident and it looked as if the car was a write off. He and his two friends were uninjured, seems that at least one stud had sheared off the back wheel, then ripped the wheel off. He did well to hold it initially but ended up over the verge and into a ditch. This was on a single carriageway on the A1 just South of Alnwick. He called the AA to say he had lost his wheel, and even though we have the max cover possible, they said that they could not help him as it was not a mechanical or electrical failure. I took over then so they could explain to me how studs shearing was not mechanical, and they agreed to send out a low loader for recovery, but it would not be there until 1730. Obviously I was not happy with that but accepted that they have a big work load with the weather. Luke called me shortly after, they had just phoned him to say it would now be 2130, 7.5 hours after the accident. Called the AA again and went up the ladder, and suddenly they could pick him up in 40 minutes, take them to Musselburgh, then change over to another recovery truck to bring them home, or to John Duthies.

Had to be a third one though, Ian just called from work in Aberdeen to say his house mate rang to inform him that there was water coming through the ceiling into her bedroom.

Ain't life great.

tut

[andyc]

I hear you Tut. Leak in house, gutters off due to snow, snow in loft, ABS light on and rattling bushes in car, broken pc and broken Hoover! Not to worry Santa will be here soon and all will be good in the world again

[Rusty]

Sorry to hear that tut,

Remember i'm down in middlesbrough so if you need a hand with anything down here, pm me (i think you've got my mobile number as well)

think i actually saw him the other day in stockton during my lunch hour.

Hope all is ok, Bad luck was only invented to allow us to enjoy the good bits more!

[smee]

Sorry to hear this Tut but at least everyone is ok. If you need a drum of oil you can have some of ours to tide you over. We are running a little low ourselves but reluctant to order more as we should be moving soon if all goes to plan.

[scott_e]

sounds like a horrible day Tut, also sorry to hear of your misfortune. At least its the weekend on the plus side.

ps , im another with gutter problems due to the snow , they just dont build houses like they use to eh !

[renmure]

Sorry to hear of your woes

Don't know if it is any help but I just ordered 3000 liters of heating oil yesterday from Highland Fuels up in Inverness and they can deliver on 29/30/31st @ 57p / liter.

I also know that the oil companies have lots of heating oil, but not the means to deliver it. Might be that your best, short term, solution would be to pop to the nearest company with some 25 litre containers to tide you over.

[campbell]

Jeez Tut, it's really stacking up.

And what is it with the Duncans and encounters with the countryside of North East England

Glad Luke is safe and well. Did he syphon the tank so that you can burn it on a camping stove to keep one of the bathrooms warm!

As for gutterings, sometimes the modern placcy ones are winners because they expand and flex, and deform under the ice load, then settle back after the thaw

[Doc883]

My central heating and hot water decided to stop working at 7pm today but luckily it's only forecast to drop to -10 tonight
Small mercies for my Scottish Gas breakdown cover so booked in for an engineer visit between 9am and 1pm tomorrow. Just hope it's easy to fix as getting parts in this weather could prove fun !!

[jen]

Sounds like you've got the same luck at us Tut.

Really gladto hear no-one was injured though.

Jen

[scottishselise]

I have had a similar array of things going wrong.

Toliet stopped flushing, skylight started leaking, dog walker let me down, family issues, car issues, need new bed

One bit of really good news recently tho which makes me ommit all that happened last week. Will reveal if it pulls through,,,,

[Gareth]

Owen residence is also having a cold xmas.
Running out of oil and mid January for delivery. I'm with Brogans and find this seriously out of order.
The way I see it, I pay DD @ £140 a month and they can't deliver. So I'm paying for a service they are currently not offering me. They said if I can get hold of drums I can come and collect.

[3rd Son of Tut]

Double that Gareth, £300/month and that will nowhere near cover it now.

tut

[tut]

Fortunately the leak at Ian's house was the overflow pipe frozen up and the ball cock not shutting off properly so the tank was overflowing, but at a fairly slow rate. Sorted out now and a knife put through the ceiling to release the water.

Luke's car was dropped off by the AA in Mintlaw, our road in to Old Deer is only just passable. Went to look at it and get the contents, cosmetically not too bad, rear bumper off but he brought it back, rear offside suspension hanging low, so wishbones probably bent, but John Duthie is recovering it tomorrow.

We have taken all the electric fires out of the garage and set them up, EON energy monitor says that we are using £120 worth per 24 hours, but we are back on StayWarm again at £115 a month, so I have no option until I can get oil again. We are warm enough and that's what counts.

tut (Old Deer's answer to Global Warming)

[scottishselise]

£120 per day but costs £115 / month?

Glad you have a temp solution....

Can anyone have "staywarm" plan?

[tut]

Not anyone, you have to be either disabled and receiving certain allowances, or over 60.

Conditions are no more than four in the house, max of three bedrooms, no sauna, big jacuzzi, or heated swimming pool. Covers gas and electricity.

tut