After the trauma last week I hoped it would all be a little easier...but no.

• Hire Car: The hire car company said they couldn't get the car to us until after lunch as it was already on a hire, but they would valet and deliver. I agreed with them that anytime after 12:30 would be great. 10:30 I get an irate call from them wanting to know why there was no-one at the house to take the car....They then went and harassed Ellie at the local playgroup demanding she go home with them to sign for the car - she quite rightly told them they would have to wait, which annoyed them even more. Sadly I don't give a flying f**k at a rolling donut (to use a 20 year old phrase) about what they think as the agreement was quite specific.
• Hire Car Part 2: We didn't need to use the car the day it arrived, but the next day Ellie goes to drive it to the shops and find out that the no-smoking car stinks of....yes...you guessed it....stale skanky fag smoke. Great! Just what anyone wants - and you can imagine how much a 1 year old baby loves that pong too....
• Washing Machine: Part arrives a day late...didn't fix it....So online I booked the service company who book me in for the 28th of December, at a cost of £89. Ok, not ideal, tomorrow would be ideal, but that's ok, at least it's not too far. Ansa-Phone  message the next day "Hi this is <company> we can't do the 28th even though we said we would, so it will be the 2nd instead ok? At a cost of £99 ok?"  No, not ok. I understand the date - these things happen, but no an extra tenner as well? Not bloody likely.... So I call them up and explain their mistake. "Ah yes, but that's because we're updating our systems and it's probably just that the website hasn't updated yet, so it's definitely £99" - Me: "No it's not. You advertised and I booked at £89 so that's how much it will be. Ok?" Them: "I'll check with a supervisor....please hold..." so i hold for 10 minutes on a premium rate number probably costing me more than the tenner but I'm stubborn like that. "Ok yes it will be £89 but you'll have to explain to the engineer when they arrive as well". That should be fun, as I'll be at work and it will be Ellie doing it so we shall see.... Basically if they kick off then they can call me and I'll explain the lot to them. That should be fun....
• Phones: It's actually not all bad...We got 3 new digital portable phones from Currys for £39....I have nowhere to put the 3rd one, but the other 2 are in place and working very well indeed!

Well, I think I must have really upset someone in a previous life....

This week the following things have broken:

• Monday morning: went in to work to find out the alarm had gone off due to a fault with a sensor. The same sensor that's faulted several times this year already. The real sod is that the alarm company sent us a letter last week saying basically "we've shut up shop and sold your account to <insert name of big national company here>. If you have a problem, call them - and good luck". The trouble is if you call the big company then they say "yes we know OF you, and that you have a contract with someone, but we have no details so can't help yet - please call back later". DOH!
• Tuesday afternoon: Phone call from the wife - "Hi its me, I've got a bit of a problem with the car...." in the background i can hear the young one (aka son and heir) merrily chirruping away. They've gone out to play in the park and the steering has given up the ghost. Luckily they managed to get home by careful driving, but it's going to need to go to the garage in the morning.
• Wednesday morning: Tow truck arrives at 7:45am - "great" I think - we can get this sorted and done and i can have a shower and get breakfast. Nope. The truck can't pick the car up because the ramps are the wrong length - they'll have to send another truck later in the day. So someone has to stay in to wait.
• Wednesday lunchtime : Garage calls to say it could take a day, or it could be a week and half depending on if a part has to come from Germany. Hmmmm.... At least I've already checked with a hire car company that they have a suitable car i can hire for the wife for a few days.
• Wednesday lunchtime (Part 2) : Hire company has already hired out the car so we cant get one until tomorrow. On the plus side (finally!) they will deliver to the house, which is the first bit of good news all week!
• Wednesday afternoon : Phone call from wife - "Thank you for sorting the car, the bad news is that the washing machine has broken (on washing day) and won't run because (according to the "info-bubble") there is a problem with the outlet pipe"
• Wednesday evening : I take apart the washing machine and decide its probably the pump that pumps the water out, so i quickly nip online and order a replacement. Handy it's that pump, because I broke the mounting as I was 'examining' it so now it won't go back on...
• Wednesday evening (Part 2): Find out that one of the 2 wireless phones in the house is shot and won't ring. Obviously it's the one in the bedroom that still rings. So we can't hear it ringing, but it does successfully wake up the son whenever someone calls....

Lets see what Thursday brings shall we?