You could become a politician and put one on expenses 
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What !! only one?
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It wouldn’t be the strangest item I’ve expensed 
.
Willy.
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Do tell!
I used to vaguely know someone who apparently claimed for his partner’s breast augmentation procedure as ‘soft furnishings’.
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Maybe in a dark and hushed corner of an empty pub, after a few pints. Well out of earshot of HMRC.
Willy.
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I do like a literal vol-au-vent, me.
And also that there is a station on the Paris metro called ‘good news’, and that its name is written in a happy dancing font.
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Yes , it is as quick as Suzy Wong says
Have they now started issuing “just” 10 year passports, rather than adding on the unexpired part of last passport?
Think that was causing issues with UK passports getting in to EU as they weren’t technically 10 years passports.
Guess it also means a bit more care need with regard to when people time their renewal? So good to know the service has speeded up
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Dunno. Sue’s passport had expired.
Mrs. G. and I went for a very pleasant walk today, with the windswept snowcapped Sierra Nevadas as a backdrop.
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Good idea for a new thread!
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Spent the day at Fontmell Magna, North Dorset learning all about the Stonehenge Environs from a team of experts directed by Julian Richards of BBC fame.
Enlightening and a beautiful venue.
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The weather here on the IOW took a turn for the better today. One of those beautiful days when you can almost forget it has rained on and off for what seems like a month. A lovely walk up the hill towards Freemantle Gate, the old gatehouse to Appuldurcombe House. Then onwards across the downs towards a pub roast. Yum.
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Well, having anticipated a relaxing Sunday I realised mid morning that the downstairs loo was not draining properly. Lifted the drainage manhole cover at the bottom of the garden fairly easily and that was fine.
Took two of us to lift the heavier one nearer the house and the drainage point was completely blocked and decidedly unpleasant. Spent hours trying various things to unblock it but eventually got some new drain rods from Screwfix and at least temporarily it’s flowing freely again.
What an utterly unpleasant day but ultimately pretty satisfying to get a result even if it’s temporary!
At least I guess I’ve figured out which channels various gulleys and soil pipes drain into.
Not my drain which is larger, but it was pretty much like this:
Unpleasant image removed - I’ve got a pretty strong stomach but it would put many off their tea!
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One of the foul drain junctions at the front of the house clogs up every six months or so. But fifteen minutes with the hose on “jet” setting encourages the blockage to move along.
But many years ago…….
The foul runs from the right hand side of the house through to the back where it joins the foul from the left hand side, and then runs along the back of the row of houses. There’s a cover on each leg. The blockage was two doors down, and was eventually cleared by next door’s S-i-L who came out with his rods.
In the meantime, I had both our covers off, the culverts were full to the brim! The left hand cover is in the cat run at the back, and I was rushing through the cat run. It was mid to late evening, so it was already going dark. It was therefore inevitable that I would put my foot down where a cover should have been! My wife was following me, and her only comment was, “you’re not coming back in the house until you’ve taken your trousers off.” I had to squelch around to the garage at the front and disrobe. Trousers, socks and shoes all went in the bin…
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I think I knew something was up weeks ago as there was an odd ‘slap back’ noise as though something was struggling to clear but it had seemed fine for a fortnight or so.
Have covered both manhole covers with lighter slabs to stop animals falling in just in case I need to revisit in coming days.
Wondering if a formal endoscopic inspection might be worthwhile as the cherry tree roots probably run quite close to the main drainage pipe between the two manholes.
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In my house the drainage of old was designed to unleash a bath full of water down the tubes. In recent times a shower with just a trickle of water doesn’t do the job. Modern living.
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I’ve never had to rod a drain before, quite satisfying I guess to get a result.
Maybe 10 years ago the pipe between the bottom of the property and the main sewer in the lane behind was clogged - at Easter weekend typically and all manner of unpleasantness was percolating out at the lower end.
Fortunately Welsh Water came to the rescue and determined the blockage was at the junction with the main sewer in the lane and cleared it for free. As that end of the drain was clear I suspect they’d have charged even if they could have helped today.
Particularly odd as a neighbour noted foul water leaking from a property on the other side of the lane last week.
Time for a glass or two of thoroughly deserved wine!
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A job I learned to do many years ago since, like @suzywong, our drains blocked up at least yearly. A set of rods is essential in any house I reckon. I don’t know what drain clearing companies charge, but I bet it’s not cheap. I must have saved us a fair bit over time.
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I nearly did the same at one point when the light was going. To figure out where the drainage point was at the top before using the rods I was carrying buckets of slop from the top drain to the clearer one at the bottom of the garden, and on a couple of occasions went too fast and could have come a cropper.
Luckily I didn’t and luckily the rods were in stock at Screwfix around 3.40 pm.
Really couldn’t face putting the proper manhole covers back but wanted to cover the holes just in case a cat or hedeghog took a tumble or I needed to try again.