Restored Faith

Well arrivals into Algiers was positively pleasant, baggage reclaim was almost efficient, and the drive to the house uneventful, that was were the niceties ended, my beloved ran in grabbed the safe, stole my cash and ran out again, so now I am once again broke..

I decided in my infinite wisdom whilst wearing my pretty travel dress to sort the sink drain pipe and give it a damned good clean, I tried everything prior to leaving and decided to have another session, I took the knife because everyone knows when you need to unscrew a sink you need a knife! I threw bleach and gunk spray down prior to the knifedriver as I like to call it but to no avail.  So I preceded to unscrew the plug hole to allow me access to the drain away pipe, wooohooo it was free and man I thought I would puke with the gunk that was stuck under the rim, so I doused it with more bleach, let it sit then scrubbed it.  My problems only started when I tried to use my knifedriver to put the sink back together again, how can my plug not now fit the hole it came out of, I pushed it, I stood on it, I pulled it and I growled at it, but no it was not moving, it was now sitting proud of the sink by at least half an inch, I would have told you that in metric but I have yet to figure out what half an inch looks like in metric so I will stick with imperial for now. Exasperated I sat down with a coffee to see if by a miracle the plug would just pop back into place of it's own accord, unfortunately there is no magic in my kitchen and I was still looking at a sink in pieces.

I then realised that one of the problems with the sink hole was the screw was still attached to the threader and I couldn't removed it from the plughole, this is where my faith was restored for the third time this week, I had to take my plughole with the screw and its attached threader and bolt down the road to the plumbing shop, the first one was closed as time was cracking on, I then found the second one and asked the kind Algerian gentleman if he could help me by hacking off the threader which was attached to my screw, oh and can I have a new screw and please sir my husband took all my money I only have 2500dz! And do you know what he said? 'Money is not important', he then preceded to hack the screw in half, he then gave me a new screw and two threaders ( I think one was for luck), this lovely guy who I had never met before would not take a penny for his time, his screws or his threaders, my faith in human kind has been thoroughly restored, twice in London and once in Algiers.

I headed home again and continued on my mission to get my sink back together again, to no avail, have you ever tried to fix a sink when your bent double with one hand under the sink to hold the drain away and the other trying to screw the think back together, to say I was frustrated is an understatement, I believe that when my sink was manufactured they must have used a heating process to get the plug into place, and let me tell you I even considered putting it in the microwave to see if that would warm it enough to allow me to push it in place, unlucky for me part of it was metal, not a big bit of metal, but enough to make my microwave spark had I tried it.....

Frustrated with the sink I went and unpacked my bags, everything was tucked away nicely and I headed back downstairs to the wash basket to get the dirties sorted out, that was when I discovered the ants, a lovely long line of them up and over the kitchen door frame and along the wall and on top of the dresser that is used for storage of pyrex dishes, plates and glassware, I HATE ANTS... my beloved had informed me that twice whilst I was away he had been infested with the bloody things, which appear to arrive out of nowhere, I am convinced they are mutants and actually like RAID because I'm not shy when it comes to using it. I sprayed them once more cleaned up and down and then squirmed for the rest of the afternoon.  I called my beloved and told him we needed a plumber and in true male fashion he informed me he would have a look when he got home......................................(yes dear!)

I cannot wait to leave this house, the rain comes through the walls, the ants obviously surf on the rain, the automatic gate is not so automatic and null and void, and especially if it has been raining, the oven has a temperature setting that only it knows about, although I have to say if your in a hurry it's a great way to cook a roast chicken, I think it was raw to ready in around 30 minutes, the black smoke in the kitchen was a bit of a pain, but the chicken was lush, and luckily we took the battery out of the fire alarm when we first arrived as the slightest notion that the oven is on and it screams the house down.

PS my beloved too stood on the plughole, pulled it and pushed it and then concurred that YES we do need a plumber.....