Monday, July 28, 2008

Day of Rest and Recovery

It was a tough return to taxi driving last night, my first shift since getting back from Melbourne.
I ended up with the all-nighter, not finishing until 6.00am. I slept the last hour of it in a fierce storm at a beach front car park with the car being buffeted by the wind and the waves pounding against the shore. Prior to that my last fare, at about 4.30 was hard yakka, I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open and I was crawling along at about 40km/hr.
Even after sleeping the last hour I could barely stay awake and drove back to the depot at about 30km/hr.
I didn't even stay up long enough to count my takings, I went straight to bed and slept till after 3.00 this arvo.
On the plus side, the long shift was quite profitable and I had three jobs to Dunsborough and one return which is always a bonus.

This afternoon I painted for a while while listening to the footy, watched the episodes of House I missed while I was away and then went into town and bought noodles for the family for dinner.
Seafood Mee Goreng mmmm!!

Yesterday afternoon I repaired and relocated our letter box which has been attacked by vandals a number of times. Hopefully its new location further back from the street will help protect it. Buoyed by completing one domestic task I ambitiously attempted another: replacing the washers in the kitchen! This was not as simple or successful as I'd hoped it would be, with the hot tap refusing to turn on or off after the new washer was inserted. This lead to further ambition: the complete replacement of the hot and cold tap and faucet which has been leaking and in need of attention for a while. I had previously suggested to Mrs Holt Press that perhaps we should swap it for a new post mix tap. I trekked off to Bunnings and purchased a moderately priced piece of plumbing that looked like it would do the trick and returned home, intent on installing it. Let's just say that I have renewed and profound respect for plumbers! The old tap is so inconveniently positioned/attached under the sink it would take a tradesman descended from Harry Houdini to get at it. Unable to undo it from below, I tried attacking it from above, attempting to prise the whole sink up enough to allow access with a large spanner. No good! So, the current staus is: sink in place but not secured, hot tap broken, new taps not attached, temporary replacement installed for hot tap to enable water to be turned back on, plumbers number ready to be called first thing Monday morning.
I feel humbled and chastened that I contemplated such a demanding task, one that was clearly beyond my limited capabilities, in that it required some mechanical aptitude, plumbing skill, and common sense.
Better men than I, like Phil or Birchy would no doubt have finished the job and still had time to write a book or father another child before the day was finished, but lesser mortals like myself, and Broadie, just scratch our heads and marvel at the apparent ease with which these super-men complete such tasks. I blame my genes!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just to comfort you, we have been living with a kitchen sink tap that is made out of a bit of old hose for 2 months now. I did buy a new part, but Bunnings Kabul (or rather, Aziz's shop) doesn't have quite the range and so the part I got is held on with clips and pipe and tape. It looks terrible, works badly and leaks. But then we don't have hot water anyway...
Phil

Anonymous said...

A word from the wise - your humiliation isn't finished yet - it will be completed when the plumber comes around and comments on the "d@#%head" who had a go at it before he got there and then says;"..oh, sorry mate was that you?" I know have a rule whenever tradesmen or "Hire a Hubby" are coming around to our place - I wont be there. And as the man of the house I refuse to budge on that!

Broadie

Anonymous said...

You could do a Broadie and make hte workmen cupcakes while wearing an apron.

Peter said...

What do you mean... You blame your genes!!!! harrumph.
this should PROVE that genes had nothing to do with it.
http://holtieshouse.blogspot.com/2006/11/five-minute-job-refers-to-taps.html

Marcus said...

Au contraire Pop
I present your post as exhibit A in the case of The Crown v The Genes and rest my case.