14th February 2010

It's Valentine's Day, but forgive me if I'm just not interested. This isn't a 'headache' moment; merely commercial interests overriding the incomes of the poverty-stricken masses.
Talking about poverty stricken, several weeks ago Him indoors looked at the meter on our gas citerne - that bomb-like cystern out the back. With all this cold weather, I dreaded the news. But, sure enough, the meter read '20': time to call in TotalGaz to fill up the tank. The giant lorry duly arrived, down our narrow country lane (not designed for any vehicle larger than the ubiquitous Berlingo). Our neighbour's horrible dogs scattered in fright - good! - but then the lorry driver tried to negotiate our newly-erected gate. Buried in cement, underneath the gate, is what they call 'un sabot basculante' - to enable the gates to shut. Well, the lorry driver didn't use hydraulics to lift the vehicle, he just bulldozed straight over the sabot and damaged it beyond repair. We subsequently obtained a devis quote and sent it to Total Gaz. Yesterday we received their reply: '...when we installed your citerne we inspected your access route. By building new gates, you have changed the access, so we are not liable. Please do something about it before the next delivery. Respectfully.....'
Him indoors says 'sabotage', try not to take a-fence, and time to make a bolt for the door......
Grrr! St. Valentine's massacre of my own.