Water is seeping into my garden and gathering on my patio. It just about dries up, then it rains, then I have a pool again. This morning my water insurance (Home Serve) came and a nice young man looked into it carefully and pronounced it not drinking water but water draining off the field behind my bungalow. He thinks there may be a land drain which has broken or is blocked. And so a process has begun. So far I have rung Yorkshire Water - step one. Now I await Step two. Hopefully it will not be an insurmountable problem but be assured I shall keep you up to date on proceedings - (a problem shared is a problem halved).
It is not until one lives alone that problems become PROBLEMS. For most of my life, since first leaving home, I have had a practical man to take care of things like this. And I am ashamed to say that I find it hard to deal with this kind of thing myself. I blame old age but I suspect it would be just the same if I was thirty years younger.
One thing is for sure. I am a product of my generation. The engineer who came to look at the problem had many tattoos on his arms. I find it difficult not to be influenced by this - when I was young the only folk who had tattoos on the whole were ex-seamen. Now it is almost all young men - and even a few young women. Why should I complain? It is their bodies and they do what they like with them. But it is a barrier I have to cross when dealing with folk. I am thoroughly ashamed in this case - a nicer, more efficient, friendlier, kinder man it would have been hard to find. So I apologise for having to cross that barrier - it is time I pulled myself up into the twenty first century.
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29 comments:
Tattos are ubiquitous these days. Polls reckon that one iin five people in the UK have a tattto. In the 25-39 age group that rises to one in three, with more women that men having tattoos.
Thank you for the correct quote...”not a drop to drink” makes my blood pressure rise!
I can cope with people having a few tattoos on arms and legs, but fail to understand why some have their necks, heads and even faces done. And the subject matter! Roses, hearts, anchors or snakes maybe, but daggers dripping blood? My father had a tattoo from his days in the army, WWII, and I assumed that, like his, they are all permanent. If so, there are going to be some very amused staff in hospitals and old folks homes in the future.
Hopefully your problem with the water won't become one of those where it gets passed from one company to another. On the radio the other day an employer stated that he won't employ anybody who had tattoos that can't be covered by normal clothing because his employees have to work in people's houses and he thought that tottoos give the wrong impression - something I totally agreed with. A couple of discreet tattoos yes, but covering whole body parts looks repulsive.
We all have our own opinions Pat.. even the ones we keep to ourselves.. We wouldn't allow our daughter to have tattoos until she turned 18 and could do what she wanted.. I figured anything permanent on her body she was going to decide as an adult.. And now both arms are covered in tatoos... lol She got them in her early 20's she is now in her early 30's and has not had a new tattoo for many years.. She likes the ones she has but is not inclined to get more.. Do i like them? Um... no .. they are of martini glasses and stars and i don't know what all..
When you first meet someone you form an opinion.. like you did with the young man that helped you.. but as long as we keep an open mind.. like you.. opinions can change.. I do not understand the need to be a billboard.. Hugs! deb
Hope you get the water problem resolved. I also get anxious when these sorts of problems have to be resolved. My eldest daughter self harmed as a troubled teenager. She is now a research fellow at uni, lecturer, Doctor etc. She had both arms tattooed to hide the scars. I am very proud of her.
Hope you can get the leak (?) fixed.
Daughter does not have a tattoo but she has the tiny little piercing in her eyebrow that I think is very cute on her. She also has bright pink hair.
cheers, parsnip
Hopefully they'll get the water sorted.
I'm the same way about tattoos, but I'm getting better.
If this is a problem that has started only now, it should be relatively easy to find the cause; probably like the man said, some blocked drain somewhere. Hopefully, they can sort it out soon - you definitely do not want a pool in your garden like that!
As for tattoos, I have friends with tattoos but it is definitely not for me. If I were interested in a man and found out he is tattooed, that would be a complete turn-off for me.
I know what you mean about not having a practical man around anymore. When Steve died, there were quite a few things I had to get used to doing myself. Now that I earn more money than back then, I can afford to have stuff done by professionals, when I don't feel like it (or can't do it myself). As OK is here only every other weekend, I do not want to impose on him with repairs and such like.
I am stunned that the common thread of my life (and yours) is not the thread that binds together the two generations below me. I need to pull myself into the 21st century, too, and it's not tattoos. I have them sorted. I saw your title, "Nor any drop to drink" and Coleridge and his sailor and his albatross came at once to mind. I took a tiny detour to read the poem again, for it is not overly long, and find it half a dozen entries down the google page, preceded by documentaries on the water crisis in Flint, Michigan.
Poor thing you ! Hope it's fixed very soon . xxx
If it is a land drain on the adjoining field then it is the farmer you should be talking to. Farmers do their own land drains, at least we do here. It doesn't sound like it is blocked if it putting water out, it is doing its job. A blocked land drain would cause a wet area on the field.
It's more than a few young women who have tattoos these days. I'm a bit old fashioned but I don't think it's very attractive.
The man who came from Home Serve told me to get in touch with Yorkshire Water, who would come and investigate. They would then advise me about getting in touch with the farmer if they thought there was a broken land drain. The muck spreader came over the area a couple of weeks ago, which is interesting. I am not sure who owns the field but I probably know him because I only live a couple of fields away from our farm. In the meantime I am not too worried - it is not really a major problem.
Hope your drainage problems can be fixed soon. I'm like you and dislike tattoo's, and like Librarian, I wouldn't have dated anyone with a tattoo when I was younger. I especially dislike tattoo's on a bride. I know I should be more tolerant, but can't help the way I feel.
I have the same problem with the tattoos. They are so unattractive to my eyes, yet obviously not to the many who have them. What helps me is to pretend I'm living in a science fiction novel in a new universe where the inhabitants have opposite ideas of beauty to mine. Since I'm the ex-pat, it's up to me to adjust. Works with the rainbow hair colors too. Doesn't quite get me there with the piercings yet but I'm working on it.
Hoping you can get your water issue resolved quickly . I have no issue with tatts or piercings but then I'm only 74 LOL. What does bother me is the long hairy beards these days. But we all did such foolish things back in the day and I recall how critical people were of the Beatles hair when they had the short bowl cuts. So silly to make it an issue. I recall my days of being a new mum with dresses that just covered...just...my underpants/knickers. My dear sweet mother in law asked her daughter if I had forgotten my skirt when I visited the US!
One of the many times we moved house, my husband and sons went to the new place while I waited at the old place for the moving van to arrive. When they showed up, the man (about my age at the time) had hair longer than my own, tattoos, a pierced nose and pierced tongue. It gave me pause, but he and his helper turned out to be very efficient. He'd give me less pause today, but I can't say it would go unnoticed.
Blocked land drains can cause problems for householders. We had something similar after a spell of wet weather when a drain a street away from us became blocked. Once it was cleared all was well, but we were surprised when a little stream came under our back fence and found it's way round to the front of the house. Don't worry - it will soon be sorted. It is a steep learning curve to have to deal with these things oneself.
I am with you on tattoos - I find them a bit off putting but know some very nice men who have them.
I can no longer handle water problems Weave. You are not alone. I can just about handle tattoos on women, depending on where they are.
I grew up with a father who could fix anything. When I finally had a house of my own, I figured I should be able to do the same. However, once when a plumber was leaving after fixing a problem with our bathtub faucet which I had definitely made worse, he said to my daughter, "I'll see you the next time your Mom tries to fix something." I didn't get the fix-it gene, and it ended up costing lots of money. Unlike your other readers, I do like tattoos. I always wanted one, but was talked out of it. Thank goodness, because I probably would have a big peace sign on my shoulder now. But when I turned 50, by best friend and I went and got small tattoos on our ankles. I got a line drawing of a dove in flight. It hurt horribly, but I went on to get 2 more (and each one hurt more than the last). One is a small bluebird carrying a heart, which I got when my fiancé died while awaiting a transplant. All my tattoos are small and normally covered by clothing, but they all have meaning to me and I love them.
Ah, there's always something that needs attention when you are responsible for running your own household. It keeps you on your toes. Anyway, you seem to be well on the way to solving the problem.
Tattoos. I see it as personal mobile graffiti. Some of it might rate as very good street art and some of it closer to tagging. What do I think about people with tatts? It's the person, not the tattoos or the clothes; we are so conditioned to making judgements on outward appearances.
Alphie
I keep finding men from our water company wandering around with listening devices. They know there's a major leak somewhere but can't find it. As for tattoos, I was recently recommended a man to service my ride-on mower, and my friend said "You'll like him, he's covered in tattoos". Personally I have none, I never would, and I probably see them in a similar light to yourself; best hidden.
Obviously it is against the English law of physics and gravitation to allow water to drain to the lowest point ?
The answer may be to move your caravan to the top of the hill.
If it is any consolation, I don't like to deal with issues such as problems with water supply etc.... I am in my forties and have always been independent. Maybe those trusted helpers of ours actually feel the same as us? Anyway, I hope the water pooling is soon sorted. I am really impressed that you are trying to overcome barriers by consciously addressing your bias. Not an easy thing to do but something that I am working on, too. We get unconscious bias training at work, which has opened my eyes to issues I didn't think I had. Have a lovely week.
I don't like tattoos either, but each to their own. Being of a certain age I find it particularly odd when I see police officers with them. Also chefs and waiting staff. My rational mind tells me that their arms are clean, but I instinctively think they are covered in dirt!
The young man who came to work on our front door lock not only had tattoos, but rastafarian (even though he was Causasian) dreadlocks that reached to his shoulders.
He was the son of the owner, did a great job, and a nicer guy you couldn't find.
I blame David Beckham.
I am being cremated when I die, I am sure if someone found me 100's of years from now, I would be mounted on a wall somewhere as the only person from my generation that does not have tattoos. My sister has tattoos on her, from where she had radio therapy to kill the cancer. they are small black dots where they lined it up to zap her. My extremely religious great grandparents would have frowned on this even for a health reason. Leviticus 19:28
I know what you mean about tattoos and it can be so easy to prejudge people which is very wrong. Its an age thing for us.
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