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5 September 2022 (Monday) - Limescale round my Ballcock

I had a rather bad night (again) seeing every hour of it (again). It was dark when I took the puppies out, but they soon settled with “er indoors TM and I made toast.
I didn’t bother turning on the telly; instead I had a look at the Internet (which was the same as ever). A few people had a birthday today; I sent my birthday video to those with whom I’ve actually communicated in the last year. And with nothing else occurring I got ready for work. There’s no denying that I felt rather rough at six o’clock this morning. Perhaps I should have phoned in sick, but I got on with my life and spent much of the day whinging at anyone who would listen.
 
I had quite the walk to find where I'd left the car. As I walked it was rather obvious we'd had rain overnight. We could do with more of that. I got to the car (eventually) and took a little detour to cap some Munzee Points of Interest (as I do) before heading up the motorway. I say "motorway"; for all that the pundits on the radio would have us believe that "Operation Brock" has finished, the M20 is still a dual carriageway (in both directions) with a fifty miles per hour speed limit, and there are no plans to change this for a year or so.
The most frustrating part of it all was the signs saying “speed limit in force to protect workforce” when there was fifteen miles of speed limit and no workforce whatsoever.
 
As I drove there was also some zoologist on the radio being interviewed about her revelation that during lockdown animals in zoos had got "more jiggy" than usual. Lockdown was apparently quite the instigator of quite un-moral behaviour in zoo animals. For me the take-home message here was that whilst some of us were doing our best to keep the country going during the lockdown, and whilst others had been going stir-crazy, there were those who had been watching to see how randy things were getting in zoos.
And they got paid for it too...
But perhaps the most important thing mentioned was that our new Prime Minster will be freezing the prices of leccie and gas... There's no denying power costs need freezing. In fact  it needs halving. Mind you I can distinctly remember the run-up to the last general election when the Conservative party were constantly lambasting the Labour party about there not being a "magic money tree" to fund their policies. It would seem that the Tories have found one, wouldn't it?
 
As I worked (whinged at anyone who would listen) I had a message to contact the garage. Having been quoted a thousand quid to get the car sorted I decided that I shouldn't drive round in a scratched-up car when the scratching-up hadn't been my fault. I'd spent an age fighting with the insurance company's website last night, and today a garage in Dover contacted me to discuss the repairs. They will be taking my car away for at least a week at the end of November, and won't be supplying me with a courtesy car. I phoned the insurance company to demand a courtesy car, and eventually got put through to the wrong person. She assured me that the right person would phone me back... but talk is cheap. Certainly cheaper than fixing a scratched car...
 
With work worked I came home and took the dogs to the woods. We did something quite revolutionary: we went round the woods in an anticlockwise direction and didn’t meet everyone. I’ve had a theory (for some time) that everyone but us goes round anticlockwise and in doing that this evening we managed to avoid all the normal people. Result (!)
 
I then got a mini step ladder and had a look at our water tank. The thing has been overflowing for a few days. The bit controlled by the ballcock was rather encrusted with limescale. I’ve never seen such humungous lumps of limescale; they have obviously been building up for years. Have you ever looked at the ballcock in your water tank? Have you got as much limescale as I have? I’d have a look now before you have the problem I’ve got (or one of them!)
I snapped off as much as I dared, but I soon got to the point where I didn’t know whether I would be snapping off limescale or ballcock, so I’ve sent for the plumber. Hopefully he will sort out the dripping tap in the bathroom too.
 
“er indoors TM came home, boiled up some scran, then went bowling. The dogs fell asleep on top of me and I watched the third episode of “House of the Dragon” which (in true “Game of Thrones” style) has given up having a plot in favour of tedious seemingly endless battle scenes.
I fell asleep…

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