…due to an unfortunate weekend incident.

Pathway Overgrown

On arrival at work this morning I was greeted at the doorway and informed that most of the electrics in the building were not working. Hot and cold water were available and partial lighting in one of the ladies toilet facilities. I was also told that if I was not comfortable with these arrangements I could go to a nearby building to use the facilities there.

We moved office buildings in early 2011 to a building that had been newly refurbished. One of the features was state of the art water boilers for hot drinks. They are billed as having the capacity of providing 200 cups of boiling water per hour. They never quite lived up to expectations and broke down frequently and the temporary alternatives were less than adequate.

The decision was eventually made to provide wall mounted zip boilers in addition to the current facilities. These were fitted over a weekend two weeks ago. They did not get wired up for use that weekend because the electrician had fallen ill. The work was rescheduled for last weekend. The electrician turned up but an unfortunate incident occurred. He dropped his screwdriver shorting out most of the building’s electrical circuits and at the same time gave himself quite a ’shock’. We were informed that the electrician was alright (thank goodness).

The building facilities were back up and running mid morning but the computer systems took a little longer…  And the hot drink facilities are still less than adequate.

After a day like that it was an ideal opportunity to take advantage of the sunny weather and hop on my bicycle to enjoy a relaxing cycle ride. The experimental route I chose was rather overgrown (including lots of brambles and nettles). This was not ideal especially as the pathways are supposed to be part of the local cycle network.  This meant I had to do a lot of walking in addition to the cycling.  On the plus side, at least it gave me a bit of exercise ;-)

26 Comments CherryPie on Jul 28th 2014

26 Responses to “Electrical Failure…”

  1. ....peter:) says:

    i love your bicycle Cherie… it has class… i got a laugh about the story with the electric adventures of your workplace… at least you got to walk your bike through the cycle paths… life is good :) ….peter:)

  2. ubermouth says:

    I thought this post was going to end with you saying that you had to work in the ladies. :)

    A bike ride cures most things.

  3. Ayush says:

    it was amusing the way you put the recent events, but i suppose it got annoying at times. good to be able to get on those wheels and pedal away from all the frustration :)

  4. Petra says:

    First the electrician fell ill and when he finally turned up, he dropped his screwdriver shorting out most of the building’s electrical circuits… which is the exact description of how life makes fun of us so many times. :) I’m pleased to hear that the electrician is all right!

    I love the basket on your bicycle by the way, so stylish! :)

    • CherryPie says:

      Yes life does have a laugh at times.

      The basket is so convenient to lob my house keys and camera into ;-) I leave the mobile phone at home ;-)

  5. Sean Jeating says:

    After all, you are riding no e-bike. :)

  6. Ginnie says:

    After all that….i really like your bike. :)

  7. He he… That’s a huge basket for you to collect wild blackberries in the countryside! ;)

  8. Jane says:

    Well that sounds like a bit of a problem at work. Hope all is going well by now and the electrician has recovered from his shock fully. Good idea to get out and ride your cute bike.

    • CherryPie says:

      The new boilers still aren’t operational. Maybe next weekend…

      There is a big desk move around going on next weekend. I am one of the ones that is moving! More scope for chaos next monday.

      I feel another cycle ride coming on ;-)

  9. Steve Hayes says:

    Oooh, a real bicycle!

    Since our bikes were stolen 20 years ago, I’ve been looking for replacements, but all you can find in the shops are mountain bikes. I want a plain(s) bike.

    Once my heart leapt for joy when I saw a real bike in a shop window, but my joy was shortlived. It was a mobile phone shop and the bike was only for show and not for sale.

    • CherryPie says:

      When I was in Mechelen earlier this year I fell in love with traditional style bicycles and wanted one. When I got back home I did my research to find a suitable one.

      There were a lot available by mail order, but I really wanted to sit on one to ensure it was the right riding style for me. I found a fairly local store that sold the type of cycle I was interested in. I emailed them and asked about the range and I was offered the chance to test cycle them in the local park.

      This one felt just right, so I took it home with me. It is a pleasure to take it out for spin. I drop my camera in the basket choose a direction and watch the world go by. I seem to attract lots of attention which leads to companionable conversations along the way.

      I have a very nice mountain bike but it was never the cycle I wanted and it has languished in the garage for years. I need to move that one on to a new home.

      When you say a plain(s) bike do you mean a road bike? Or is it something else?

      • Steve Hayes says:

        When I say “plains bike”, I mean not a mountain bike.

        All bikes you casn by here are mountain bikes, except a few racing bikes.

        I want a plains bike, with real mudguards, and non-knobbly tyres, and perhas with a basket or a carrier or something.

  10. Barbara says:

    Sounds far better than just hanging around and waiting.