Frosted web. Details in text.
January from Hell
It started on New Year’s Day with a severe cough and cold. Normal, I suppose, for the time of year, but quite debilitating. I needed to be propped up on extra pillows to be able to sleep and that wrecked my sleeping patterns and added to my tiredness. Then on Saturday 4th our central heating boiler decided to malfunction. Just at the moment that the weather decided to turn extremely cold.
We managed, on the Monday, to get our provider, British Gas, to call. Their estimate for replacement (they said it couldn’t be repaired because of its age) was outrageous. £6000. By Tuesday we got a gas fitter we know to give us an estimate. £3000. Half that of British Gas and he had parts to do a temporary fix so that we could wait to replace the boiler in better weather. However, when BG had fitted a new timer, a couple of years ago, they messed up the wiring so our friendly gas fitter got a mild electric shock and went away until we could sort that out. By this time, it was heading into the weekend again… It was Thursday 16th before he could return after we had the electrics fixed (not by BG because whilst we pay them extra for insurance we didn’t exactly trust them…) and at that point he did the temporary repair.
The 12 day period without heating coincided with one of the coldest periods in recent years. And at the same time:
(1)Our immersion heater worked to provide hot water but its thermostat broke down (well, it was installed at about the same time as the boiler) so we had virtually boiling water which is OK provided you remember, and add cold. However, the cold tap on our bath/shower also broke (yes, similar installation time) so we couldn’t have showers or wash our hair.
(2)We managed to source the correct fuel for the closed stove in our dining room but realised it wasn’t ‘drawing’ well and then the carbon monoxide alarm went off and we knew the chimney must need sweeping. Cue letting the stove go out but the alarm refused to stop beeping even when placed outside (to the combined amusement and annoyance of our neighbours). The alarms are designed, incidentally, so that you can’t take the battery out.
And to think we weren’t worried by the withdrawal of the age related winter fuel payment. Last year, we’d given it to our daughter and knew we didn’t need the money. But money can’t buy you a new boiler instantly or even any kind of temporary fix.
Still suffering quite badly with my cold, I spent most of the time in a sort of daze, wrapped in a fleece blanket and wearing a lot of clothes and fingerless mittens. Yes, I have an electric blanket in bed but as I mentioned, lying down wasn’t actually an option. Occasionally I ventured into the kitchen to make meals. It wasn’t necessary to keep anything in the fridge and all equipment was unpleasantly cold to touch and handle. When I cooked, I used the main oven for preference (rather than the halogen cooker/air fryer) then left the door open while we ate at the breakfast bar, trying to get the benefit of the heat.
I had to cancel a physio appointment – I couldn’t have driven, I couldn’t have coped at all, and of course I couldn’t shower in advance. As a result, my various aches and pains got a great deal worse, not helped by the temperature and by the sleep problems.
I am supposed to be contacting my optician to plan for cataract ops but haven’t, so far, felt inclined to do anything about it even though my eyesight is deteriorating rapidly.
My daughter came to see us once we decided there was no risk of infection, and said it was warmer outside, where the sun was shining, but I really didn’t fancy wrapping up and sitting in the garden. She didn’t take her coat off but stayed for lunch. Even the dog was shivering and for once didn’t seem to mind leaving.
My daughter did want me to go to her house for some warmth (and a shower) but the thought of packing everything I’d need, and actually getting there and then back to the cold house, was enough to make me cry. I would have needed a complete change of clothing plus towels (she said hers weren’t drying and of course neither were ours) and of course my laptop, kindle, chargers, etc. Too much hassle to contemplate for a couple of hours of warmth.
We were past the middle of the month. My only New Year’s Resolution was to do a great deal of necessary tidying up – throughout the house and also online. So far, I hadn’t managed anything and the usual period of new year enthusiasm had passed.
I read online about people observing dry January – i.e. no alcohol. That wasn’t going to happen here. I needed my hot whisky and lemon at night to get any sleep at all. Anyway, I don’t feel a need for a dry month. I don’t avoid alcohol but I rarely drink. Normally, I will go maybe five or six weeks without an alcoholic drink then go out for some kind of celebration and get to the dizzy heights of about three units in one evening. Not exactly a binge drinker, you might note. Over the entire holiday period in December I think I had about five or six units altogether.
My husband volunteers for our local hydro scheme and that has been badly affected by the local storms. We live on the outskirts of Stockport, Greater Manchester, where there was severe flooding. Anyway, he’s been doing far more hours than usual and is both tired and aching as a result. He had ‘the cold’ earlier than me, but the cold house and the work at the river didn’t help with recovery.
The photograph accompanying this post was taken by him at the hydro on one of the very frosty mornings – we had a number of days where the temperature never rose above zero centigrade.
The Stockport floods didn’t affect us personally though my son-in-law had problems getting to work.
My husband has a van, and the insurance was due. The insurers raised the cost from about £750 to £3,000. Yes, you read that right. It turned out, after a lot of shouting, that they had entered some totally fictitious information on the file, including the idea that he was a sales rep (he’s retired and has never been a sales rep) but as you can imagine, we weren’t impressed.
My husband’s brother and his wife spent New Year in Italy and came home with some kind of flu after which brother-in-law ended up with bronchitis and antibiotics. He’s 83.
Incidentally, I was 80 in October so I don’t react to things quite as robustly as I once did.
My husband likes news 24/7 on radio or television and of course we were being treated to floods in UK, war in Ukraine and Gaza, and the new president in America. I try to tune out as much as possible though I do like to stay well informed.
We’re now heading into the last week in January and I feel shellshocked by 2025 already. I don’t feel like writing. I don’t feel like socialising, I don’t really feel like doing anything at all. But I expect spring is on the way, and maybe the year will improve. It had better. About the only thing that has gone right so far is that I’ve done a lot of reading, which has helped me to escape from our January from hell.
And yes, I know and appreciate that a lot of people in the world and even in this country are a lot worse off than me, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t all very unpleasant indeed. It did, perhaps, make me think even harder than usual about the homeless, refugees, etc. Maybe Chinese New Year this week will see a change?
Jay's World 