My newish second hand car started making a strange noise from the back when it went over speed bumps & potholes. That was after all 4 tyres set off a warning light because the pressures were all low. I have never had a single car tyre lose pressure before in 50 years of driving, never mind all 4 at the same time! The dealership said cars don't like being left standing for any length of time....! I'm taking the car in this week for the noise to be sorted - it's something to do with "bushings"? The car supposedly had a big service & was MOT'd before I bought it.
PS - They had it in all day last week, replaced the rear axle. I thought it was sorted, but no - it's still making a noise going over speed humps & uneven roads. So it's going back again.
My dark wash came out of the machine covered with a white gritty powder at the weekend - I do de-scale it regularly. When I tried to rinse the load to get rid of it, the machine wouldn't work on any programme. I'm waiting to hear from AEG whether it's worth repairing - it was in the house when I moved here in 2013 - I gave them the model number & PNC. I don't want to pay the call out fee + parts if the machine is too old.
PS - AEG never responded to two emails. I decided I should get a new machine - John Lewis to the rescue this Friday.
I ordered some new full length curtains & a metal pole for my bedroom in August from a very well known British company. I paid to have their "design consultant" come to the house to do the measuring & advise. It's been a long list of things going wrong. The main issue is that the brackets for the pole are so long the middle one can't be fitted above the windows. The consultant is finally coming back this Thursday - so a 2 month wait so far & I've still got the old curtains up.
PS - The design consultant brought the brackets for wooden poles. They stick out from the wall a lot & my bedroom door opens towards the window, so would hit the brackets.Therefore no good! She was supposed to contact me with an alternative on Saturday, but didn't. I'll have to get the poles elsewhere.
You really couldn't make it up. I could go on.
But a little ray of sunshine....
I went to a local repair cafe on Sunday. It's a volunteer run event every 2 months. All the repairers are volunteers too. This was my second visit. The first time my touch bedside light wouldn't come on - the dimmer switch inside the base was faulty. A lovely man repaired it by inserting a switch on the wire - it doesn't dim, but I don't care.
This time the press button on/off on my bedside alarm / radio only worked intermittantly. Another very patient man got into the complicated innards & swapped a tiny part on a button I didn't use for the one which was worn out. Now it works again.
It's a very jolly affair. There is a refreshment stall with home made cake. The range of things brought for repair is huge. There isn't a charge, but obviously donations are welcome. It is a really good feeling not to throw something out which is repairable. We are so casual about simply replacing things & adding to the huge mountain of electrical rubbish we create. I am full of admiration for all the people involved. Chatting to the repairers is really interesting, they are very skilled.
We need much more of this sort of thing. White goods & electricals are bulky. I hope a lot are re-cycled, but I couldn't find any statistics. Metals are a finite resource. We need to make the effort to be more sustainable.
We also need uniform re-cycling labelling & provision across the whole UK.
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