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peterbirksSo, I came home, had a nap. Got up at 6pm. Felt cold. Realized that this was because theheating was off. Turned heating on. Looked at boiler. Saw that pressure was low. Turned two handles to let in water-flow to increase pressure. Turned handles off. Started playing on Paradise. Three minutes later, heard wooshing sound. "Is it raining?" I asked myself. Er, no. There was water pouring out of the back of the boiler. Panic. Phone poker player and boilerman Paul Meek.
"Hi Paul, how are you?"
"Not too good mate. Just had open heart surgery, and my insurance companies won't pay up".
"Oh, sorry to hear that. Anyway, it's about my boiler..."
Current situation, five hours later, boiler still leaking, but not at a rapid rate. Not what you need when you are going away for three weeks in five days time.
Phoning plumber tomorrow morning. Working from home. Praying.
By way of light relief, a little picture I took this morning of Leicester Square at 6.45am. Sorry that it's blurred, but the light required a half-second exposure.
And, seriously, about Paul. Get well soon mate. I'll be in touch.
"Hi Paul, how are you?"
"Not too good mate. Just had open heart surgery, and my insurance companies won't pay up".
"Oh, sorry to hear that. Anyway, it's about my boiler..."
Current situation, five hours later, boiler still leaking, but not at a rapid rate. Not what you need when you are going away for three weeks in five days time.
Phoning plumber tomorrow morning. Working from home. Praying.
By way of light relief, a little picture I took this morning of Leicester Square at 6.45am. Sorry that it's blurred, but the light required a half-second exposure.
And, seriously, about Paul. Get well soon mate. I'll be in touch.
Boiler & Vegas
Date: 2005-11-29 12:40 am (UTC)Sorry to hear about your boiler. Hopefully it will get fixed so you don't have to face the prospect of frozen water lines when you return. Regarding Vegas, what are your plans? +EV poker? Or -EV slots & stuff?
Also I am curious as to why your boiler man's surgery wasn't covered by your national health.
BluffTHIS!
Re: Boiler & Vegas
Date: 2005-11-29 08:29 am (UTC)Boiler continues dripping into the night. Birks gets little sleep, checking on it every couple of hours. Then, finally, at 3.30am-ish, it stops. Well, bugger me. Looks like the pressure dropped down to a level where the water stopped forcing its way out of wherever it was forcing its way out of.
Which means that the boiler needs a service rather than urgent attention. Phew.
++++
Paul's surgery would have been covered by the NHS. But, since he is self-employed, I assume that he has critical illness cover to protect against loss of earnings. Apparently the insurers discovered that he had a heart murmur as a child, a fact of which Paul was totally unaware. This could make the wording of the exclusion clause crucial. The normal line is something like "are there any pre-existing medical conditions of which we should be made aware?" rather than the less exclusive "are there any pre-existing medical conditions of which you are aware?"
Could be some interesting legal cases ensuing.
Of course, most white-collar employed people inthe UK now have group health cover, as they do in the US. This does not protect against emergency procedures, but for after care and for pre-arranged operations, this provides things like private rooms and, I would hope, broadband access.
PJ