Last Wednesday we had a new gas heater installed as the old one had 2 large cracks in the Heat Exchange thus leaking carbon monoxide (the same thing that killed the children at Mooroopna earlier this year). We were extremely lucky.
Pictured is my new Nikon D90 camera with macro lens attached covered in red brick dust. Why????? Well the new heater was 5cm too small to fit in the fireplace. Our moronic/stupid AGL Assist (Bayswater) tradesman had to chip and grind at the red bricks inside the chimmney.
I was on the phone at the time when he started and when I went into the lounge room the whole room was absolutely thick with chocking red dust. I cried when I saw that NOTHING had been covered. By this time it was really too late to cover anything. However, sheets were thrown over the computer table, TV and the dining room table. My camera was taken outside and dusted down.
I could see that the tradesman had a difficult job to install the new heater, but that does not excuse him for not covering furniture/computer/TV. I was so furious with him ..... if he was so DUMB and perhaps couldn't be bothered, why didn't he ask ME to cover things.
When he finished grinding, I told him that I was furious that nothing had been covered. He tersely told me THAT I WANTED THE HEATER INSTALLED and that he had warned me what he was going to do!
YES, of course I wanted the heater installed asap, but HONESTLY I DID NOT realise the amount of dust that would have been generated. Perhaps he thought that I was just a stupid housewife and that I would not "mind" a little dust covering everything.
BOY WAS HE WRONG ....... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He was here for just under 4 hours and explained to me in two minutes how to turn the heater on and off. Later that evening when I turned the heater off I could still hear the fan going..... He didn't tell me that the fan switched off once the unit cooled down. Thank goodness for the instuction manual !!! (By the way, our old heater was approx 25 years old and very basic).
The next day, right on 9am, I was in contact with AGL Assist (Bayswater) expressing my disgust at the tradesman's lack of good sense. ....... and again on Friday ..... I was aked to send photos via email to them.
I have the whole unfortunate installation documented and on Monday morning will be ringing AGL Assist H.O. with my complaint and emailing the photos and documentation.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATE
The dining room table was also covered with dust ...... yep ....... and everything on top of it. The morning of the heater installation I had set the table for a formal birthday luncheon for the next day ... lace table cloth, cutlery, crockery and serviettes. Well, the lace cloth had to be soaked to get the red dust out, cutlery and plates washed and the flowers thrown out.
Curtains had to be washed, but the drapes have to be drycleaned. My hand felted large floor mat will have to be washed (I made this at the Handweavers and Spinners Guild of Vic a couple of years ago). A few years ago I won one of Isobelle's handwoven floor mat at a Guild function. It has always looked so lovely in front of our heater. Now it is in the laundry waiting for a dry, sunny and windy day to get the dust out of it.
ONE DROWNED MOUSE .........
NO NO NO not the four legged variety ..... After the tradesman went, I was left to clean up HIS MESS. I was wiping the dust off my computer equipment - I was wiping the "mouse" when my hand shook and it fell into my hot cuppa ....... I drowned it !!!!! Lucky I had a spare one in the drawer.