Repairs again

On Friday the contractors came out in force to put some sealants on the cast iron soil pipe and the leaking drainpipe next door. In my opinion the drainpipe is probably blocked at the bottom, which is why it is leaking and why the water is dripping around the window. There is a lot of damp around the inside of the window and limescale and damaged paintwork on the outside of the window near the drainpipe.


Today I am having carpet tiles fitted in the hallway.
The carpet was looking a bit worse for wear after 13 or 14 years and I knew carpet tiles would be better as it is an awkward shaped hallway, being in the shape of a T. So today the carpet fitter from Westgate Carpet Centre is fitting the tiles. He has already  brought the tiles in, and  lifted all the carpet grippers. The carpet grippers had been put down 13 or 14 years ago with  the orininal carpet and underlay I had put in when I moved here. They had been stuck down with strong glue and nails.

Now they are up I can see what a poor state the floor is in underneath. In parts it looks completely rotted away.
This looks disgusting...  however considering the wait of a number of months I had to have the damp repaired very near this spot a couple of years back, also considering I was told at that time  there was not any problem with the flooring, I will just cover it up with some nice fresh new  Armstrong carpet tiles.

Autumn Holly

The Mysterious Case of Lost Repairs

I phoned the repair contractor today to enquire on the progress of the corroded cast iron soil pipe.
I was told this had gone out to a sub contractor called Lanes for Drains on 9th September.
So I got the phone number for Lanes for Drains off the internet and phoned them. Apparently this has been requested as a job to investigate a bad smell coming from the drain.
Not to replace a cast iron soil pipe.
There were no further details on the job sheet.
I emphasised this was outstanding work which had not been done  and finally found that in fact the work was scheduled for tomorrow.
So, once more we are having to wait and see.
Either it will all get fixed tomorrow, or we will be back to the original situation where no one seems to have any information about it and start over from the very beginning, get an assessor to come out again, get the upstairs tenant to flush the toilet to actually PROVE  that the toilet is leaking down the pipe, etc etc.
My upstairs neighbour informed me today  that when she spoke to the repairs call centre last Friday the woman she spoke to was clear that this was a job which they were aware of and were waiting to deal with.

Ask the New Government to consider the removal of Trident from the Budget

I wrote to the government asking them why they looked set on not including the cost (billions £££££ ) of Trident in the Defence review, considering that so many public sector cuts are being planned.

Anyone can easily write to them with  this link

Unitarian Church, Newcastle

Jeff took this photo of the Unitarian Church where the meditation group meets,  showing the adjoining buildings and the cherry trees which have not long finished producing their crop of street cherries.

Evening looking towards Manors

New buildings where the Manors Multiplex cinema used to be.

Ellison Place September evening

A couple of weeks ago Jeff gave me a lift home from the meditation group. It was a clear evening and he took some photos while he was waiting. This one looks towards Byker near Manors Metro and the new pedestrian Bridge

Corroded cast iron soil pipe

Yesterday my upstairs neighbour phoned the repairs contractor about the leaking cast iron soil pipe and was told the repair had been put out to a subcontractor.
Which is fair enough considering the work will entail taking the communal drain apart and dealing with raw sewage.
It will need to be done by specialists with proper safety gear.
However, on Monday it will be 3 weeks since the repair person inspected and made a report on it. And in the meantime 2 young girls are sleeping in a bedroom which is damp and mouldy and when we open a window and someone upstairs has had diarrhoea or vomited into the toilet it leaks through the corroded pipe and we can all smell it.
If I don't see anyone attending to this on Monday I'm going to write an email, and copy it to the landlord, and the Head of Operations.
As we are paying rent and service charge for such things to be attended to properly.
I am also planning on writing an email about the lack of maintenance of the guttering, leading to the damp problems in the ground floor flats, but will wait until the soil pipe has been fixed.

I'm reading a talk by Reverend Master Daishin at the moment about seeing from a point of view, of seeing the little picture and the big picture, so during meditation I'm trying to integrate these insights which I'm having. Also the fact that the universe is not answerable to my personal will. Just because I think something is shocking, or deplorable, doesn't mean it will suddenly change just because that is what I want!
Also if I am treating my campaign to keep the building properly maintained as work, then t would be inappropriate to obsess about work during leisure time or when sitting in meditation.

I've also just finished reading
The Children's Book by A.S.Byatt

Took me a long time to read it but it made a change from my usual mix of detective thrillers and Buddhist Dharma books!