Pretty intruder

This “Balkan Anemone” has turned up in a pot. Another two have shoved their way through the pebbles by the front door. Are they made of tough stuff, or are just invasive ? Visitors like this I like.

The Hotpoint saga.
My washing machine is 11 months old and it leaked on the final spin. It didn’t flood. It leaked, substantially and was getting worse. I decided to get it dealt with while it was still under “manufacturer’s guarantee “. 

My local supplier didn’t want to know. Another couple of months older and he’d have come out for a fee. He gave me a phone number which turned out to be Sky Broadband ……so I looked elsewhere.

In the washer was a 0800 number so I rang that. I went through interminable menus until it clearly decided I was neither lucrative nor powerful so I got the “We cannot help you at this time” and cut out.

I went online. Followed a series of impossible menus and then tried the chat…..poor guy. He was working to a script and at one point I actually caught myself asking if “Hotpoint regarded a leak as a fault.”.  I did manage to find somewhere I could pick an appointment spot. So I did.

The call to confirm dropped out so I ended up trying to find a human…which I did. She was helpful but also working to a script. She warned me that I’d be charged a call out fee if there wasn’t a fault (£70) and later warned me that if it was a result of an accident or deliberate, it would be £176…..

Anyway. Simon, the lovely guy arrived. He reassured me. Told me what the usual problem was, swapped my dispenser for a new one and it has not leaked on my first try. (Goodness knows what will happen in future.)

Why did life get so complicated ?