h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

(Part 1 being "Pancake Day")

17 Feb 2005

The previous week we realised we needed the extractor fan for the cooker to arrive alot earlier than the kitchen units to enable us to get it wired in & the surround boarded & plastered before the rest of the kitchen could be sorted So I rang the store on Mon 7th: they wouldn't do a "split" delivery, so I cancelled the fan from them, having first secured a delivery from someone else. It was delivered the Thursday 10th

We spent the following weekend altering the placement of battens on the chimney brickwork, again & again ... & again, to enable us to "hook" the extractor fan on 2 rather small "clips", which had to be fixed onto the battens, which in turn had to be fixed to the remaining part of the chimney brickwork to an EXACT measurement apart - if you can follow that. Success

Today the electrician called: "What load does the cooker use?" We looked in the glossy pamphlet, which had all the specs of the cooker we are getting - no mention. I rang the manufacturer - impressively, they knew the answer immediately - 7.5kw The electrician said "Hmm, it'll need it's own circuit - I see you have 3 boards already - rules now say you can only have one, so I'll have to transfer the 3 boards onto 1 & do the wiring for the cooker - have to go under your floorboards upstairs". I looked at my other half, he looked at me, we turned to the elec. & said together "No!"

We've only recently finished getting new carpets laid upstairs, plus the fact alot of kitchen stuff is upstairs. So I phoned the store & asked if we could change the cooker from a dual fuel to a gas cooker . They said there was no problem, but the delivery date would be a little later than the rest of the kitchen ... 22nd March

Questions: Why didn't the pamphlet have this important info in the spec? Why didn't the store know about the elec load & check we would be OK? Should WE have thought about it first?

Ah well, we can put up with another month of m/wave food, takeaways & occasional snacks out

After lunch, having calmed down a little, I rang the gas fitter. I got through to him first time on his mobile, began explaining what the job entailed & he interrupted by saying he was on holiday. I said back along the lines of "Sorry, I'll phone you when you get back". However, he said it was alright as he was waiting for a ski lift . Thinking quickly (a change for me) I asked where he was ... Andorra. I hurried the conversation & said I would ring on Monday. I now await my phone bill