The tale of Spishy and the roof surveyor...

I have had a somewhat exasperating start to the working week.

We have a problem with a leaking roof at one of the houses we look after and I had arranged weeks ago to meet a roof surveyor at the house, at 9.30am this morning. Just before Christmas, the said roof surveyor was given detailed, written information from us about the nature of the problem, the layout of the property, the flat roof, pictures etc etc.

So... I arrive at property, spy a man with clipboard looking up at roof. I walk confident and smiling up to man..

Me: " Good morning, you must be John, I am Sarah, it is nice to meet you" (my hand held out to be shaken)

John, the roof surveyor: (clutching clipboard and no hand proffered for shaking) " oh yes, hello, how am I supposed to get up on the roof?"

Me... pause, mouth open: "What?!"... should you not have thought of this before, a ladder normally comes in handy".....

John: "Well nobody told me I needed a ladder, mumble, mumble.... "

Can you bloody well believe it??!! Surely to God, someone who has been a roof surveyor for 25 years, who came highly recommended to us, would have realised!

I won't burden you all with the entire dialogue but no prizes for guessing that no roof survey occurred today!

Just a little snippet of our Monday... Oh and we had an email from one of our tenants this morning, who must have been last in the queue for brains, telling us that we are
"evil, cruel and will go to prison for making our baby ill"

Charming isn't it? All because he doesn't understand the concept of ventilation... i.e open the windows, don't tape up all the air vents, turn the extractor fan on and don't hang all your wet washing round the flat instead of using the tumble drier that was bought especially for him. Apparently it is our fault that he gets condensation and the resulting black mould is killing them.

I know the majority of you blippers don't know me, but Ed and I are known in the business for being kind and sympathetic, some would say a soft touch. It is quite a shock when we are maligned in this way, especially when we have bent over backwards to try and help these particular people.

Roll on the day my numbers come up on the lottery and I can wave goodbye to all this!

Apart from all the above I am surprisingly chirpy. "What can't be cured, must be endured" as they say!