Not a good day
Saturday, 1. September 2007, 15:01:52
There are people staying in my house in Harlech. They rang me at 01:20 this morning to tell me the washing machine had caught fire and was busy burning down my lovely home.
Fortunately the wonderful Harlech Fire Brigade is just down the road on the Morfa, and apparently they were there within three minutes, put the fire out and saved everything, except of course the washing machine and the plastic dustbin next to it. The kitchen floor is a bit charred, and there is a frightful smell of burnt plastic, but otherwise little damage. I am very fortunate.
I was of course sleeping the sleep of the just and did not hear the telephone at that time in the morning. I knew nothing until Martin rang again at 10 this morning. It has come as a bit of a shock, and although he assured me everything was now OK, I felt distinctly wobbly after I put the phone down.
I ordered a new washing machine to be delivered on Monday and asked my caretaker to dispose of the old one. Then I made myself a strong coffee.
In 1982 on holiday in Lucca I spotted a wonderful device in a shop window. It had a cylinder, pipes, taps and dials and looked like nothing so much as a Mamod steam engine. Because I had a poverty-stricken childhood I never had a Mamod steam engine. It was the stuff of dreams, but my parents could never have afforded 59/6d. Here, in Lucca, was my dream.
It wasn't a steam engine, it was a mighty espresso machine, a La Pavoni Professional. I wasn't much of a coffee drinker, but I had to have it. We drove triumphantly back to the UK.
We have used it every day for 25 years. It's had new rubber seals every two years, a new dial, new pipes, a new screw top cap, even a new base after lactic acid from the milk destroyed the original. Just about the only thing that's original is the boiler cylinder. If George Washington had had a coffee machine, this would have been it.
Later this morning I was working on one of my pin tables (an electro-mechanical 1975 Williams Aztec, for aficionados). Yvonne commented on the strong electrical smell as I was switching the relays on and off. For safety I removed the mains feed to the pinball machine.
The smell didn't go away for some time. In mid-afternoon I wandered back upstairs.
In my distress at the news from Harlech, I had forgotten to turn La Pavoni off. The machine had boiled dry and burnt out the element. Hence the smell. I don't know how I can fix it, or indeed if it's fixable.
They say misfortunes come in threes.
Anyone know how to fix the relays on an EM pintable?
I'm having fugu for supper tonight.
Fortunately the wonderful Harlech Fire Brigade is just down the road on the Morfa, and apparently they were there within three minutes, put the fire out and saved everything, except of course the washing machine and the plastic dustbin next to it. The kitchen floor is a bit charred, and there is a frightful smell of burnt plastic, but otherwise little damage. I am very fortunate.
I was of course sleeping the sleep of the just and did not hear the telephone at that time in the morning. I knew nothing until Martin rang again at 10 this morning. It has come as a bit of a shock, and although he assured me everything was now OK, I felt distinctly wobbly after I put the phone down.
I ordered a new washing machine to be delivered on Monday and asked my caretaker to dispose of the old one. Then I made myself a strong coffee.
In 1982 on holiday in Lucca I spotted a wonderful device in a shop window. It had a cylinder, pipes, taps and dials and looked like nothing so much as a Mamod steam engine. Because I had a poverty-stricken childhood I never had a Mamod steam engine. It was the stuff of dreams, but my parents could never have afforded 59/6d. Here, in Lucca, was my dream.
It wasn't a steam engine, it was a mighty espresso machine, a La Pavoni Professional. I wasn't much of a coffee drinker, but I had to have it. We drove triumphantly back to the UK.
We have used it every day for 25 years. It's had new rubber seals every two years, a new dial, new pipes, a new screw top cap, even a new base after lactic acid from the milk destroyed the original. Just about the only thing that's original is the boiler cylinder. If George Washington had had a coffee machine, this would have been it.
Later this morning I was working on one of my pin tables (an electro-mechanical 1975 Williams Aztec, for aficionados). Yvonne commented on the strong electrical smell as I was switching the relays on and off. For safety I removed the mains feed to the pinball machine.
The smell didn't go away for some time. In mid-afternoon I wandered back upstairs.
In my distress at the news from Harlech, I had forgotten to turn La Pavoni off. The machine had boiled dry and burnt out the element. Hence the smell. I don't know how I can fix it, or indeed if it's fixable.
They say misfortunes come in threes.
Anyone know how to fix the relays on an EM pintable?
I'm having fugu for supper tonight.
WIDGETIZE