Ceci n'est pas une pipe d'eau froide

[steepholm]

The cold tap in my bathroom hasn't been working for a while. No biggie - we generally shower anyway, and when a bath is necessary we can fill it from the shower. Still, eventually I decided I'd better get it fixed - and, having no regular plumber, lighted through a combination of sieve, shears and Yellow Pages on a local man. What appealed to me most about him, of course, was that he used to run a second-hand bookshop, and spoke on the phone in a rather plummy voice, for a plumber. Plumbing has been a romantic profession in my eyes since watching Cluny Brown at an impressionable age, and I was secretly excited at the idea of being visited by a Gentleman Plumber, probably in tweedy overalls impregnated with the aromatic scent of pipe tobacco.

In the event his overalls were olfactorily neutral, his only pipe was the one which ran to the mixer tap, and his second-hand bookshop turns out to have specialized in railway literature, which limited our common ground to a perilous isthmus. Still, he was every inch the gentleman, fixed my tap something lovely, and charged me only £20 for labour. I shall certainly keep his number.

Comments

[kalypso]

My handyman charged me a tenner for sorting out the hot tap in my bath when it stopped recently, but then I'm a regular customer. He also scolded me for turning the tap off too hard, which he says is wearing out the washer - he says I should just turn it until the water stops.

This reminds me that a few years ago he told me my technique for closing doors was wrong. Apparently I should turn the handle only when opening the door; when closing it, I should keep the handle steady so that the catch catches. His advice did make sense, as my doors used to drift open on my previous technique (not trivial when this set the burglar alarm off overnight!)

[steepholm]

My tap needed to be replaced in its entirety, which necessitated two trips on his part, the first being diagnostic, and of course a visit to the builder's merchant in between. He can hardly have spent less than 90 minutes on the job overall, for which £20 labour seems quite inadequate. (This may explain why the bookshop failed, of course.)

[kalypso]

That does sound more, or rather less, than reasonable recompense!

I forgot to say that I have read Cluny Brown, but never saw the film. Who played her?

[steepholm]

It was Jennifer Jones, but I must admit I had to check. It's a very good film, in the screwball mode.

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

Useful little men are always worth knowing! :o)

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

He was quite a big little man!

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

Like our boiller service chap who's humungous, whereas our builder and decorator is shorter than me and I'm only 5'6". :o)

[shark-hat.livejournal.com]

I chose my plumber because his business is called "X and daughter". (It turns out that his daughter is actually at school and he did the name on the offchance she might join him in it; I bet he got lots of business from women out of it, though!) I keep using him because he's competent and pleasant.

[lilliburlero.livejournal.com]

I'm also prone to be romantic about plumbing. I thought of becoming a plumber after doing my PhD but at the time I was too old to take up an apprenticeship (this was in Ireland and I think the rules have now changed) and couldn't afford to live on apprentice wages, which presumed a young person living at home. (Am now irresistibly reminded of the Monty Python "Northern Playwright" sketch).

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

Toongsten bloody carbide drills?

My grandads were colliers although I'm not a northern playwright :o)

[forochel.livejournal.com]

£20! that is well cheap!

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

I know! And it involved two visits, a trip to the builder's merchant, and replacing the entire tap. About 90 minutes work in total.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

There aren't enough X and Daughters!

[forochel.livejournal.com]

!!! that is amazing. I wonder if he's just doing this as a retirement hobby...

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

There's an old and traditional brewery in the West Midlands which trades under the fine old name of Julia Hanson & Daughters. :o)