The Gas Man Cometh

The famous Flanders and Swann song starts

"Twas on a Monday morning the gas man came to call.

The gas tap wouldn't turn - I wasn't getting gas at all."

If I am permitted some poetic licence to change the second line to "The gas tap would turn but I wasn't getting gas at all" it gives me a perfect link to our weekend trials and tribulations in relation to what should be a very simple challenge. Getting gas to the house.

On Sunday morning – unannounced and with no fanfare, our Corgi plumber arrived to so some work. He took a risk as there is never usually anybody around on Sunday but fortunately the builder was there and so he could get on. Everything was connected and the time came to switch the gas on and fire up the system. On went the tap and out didn't come the gas!

I got a telephone call saying "could I telephone British Gas and get them to reconnect the supply". Obviously they don't answer the telephone on Sundays so at 8:00am this morning I got through to be told that I would have to phone the emergency number that you would usually use for a gas leak.

I did that and in fairness they came out pretty quickly and diagnosed the fault. It appears that that when the gas main was relied a few month ago they sort of ……...... forgot our house and didn't put a connection to it. This is despite the fact that the house has a gas meter, an account an account number and so on. It did make me wonder quite what our Corgi guy was up to three months ago when he came round to cap the gas! You might have thought he would have noticed that nothing was coming out.

At the point of writing this we are now waiting for someone to come round and re-connect us. I have no idea what that will entail.

All of this reminded me of the classic Flanders and Swann song mentioned above.

If you have never head the song before the words are listed below and a really funny lego animation is on You Tube here.

The Gas Man Cometh – Flanders and Swann

'Twas on a Monday morning the gas man came to call.

The gas tap wouldn't turn - I wasn't getting gas at all.

He tore out all the skirting boards to try and find the main

And I had to call a carpenter to put them back again.

Oh, it all makes work for the working man to do.

'Twas on a Tuesday morning the carpenter came round.

He hammered and he chiselled and he said:

"Look what I've found: your joists are full of dry rot

But I'll put them all to rights".

Then he nailed right through a cable and out went all the lights!

Oh, it all makes work for the working man to do.

'Twas on a Wednesday morning the electrician came.

He called me Mr. Sanderson, which isn't quite the name.

He couldn't reach the fuse box without standing on the bin

And his foot went through a window so I called the glazier in.

Oh, it all makes work for the working man to do.

'Twas on a Thursday morning the glazier came round

With his blow torch and his putty and his merry glazier's song.

He put another pane in - it took no time at all

But I had to get a painter in to come and paint the wall.

Oh, it all makes work for the working man to do.

'Twas on a Friday morning the painter made a start.

With undercoats and overcoats he painted every part:

Every nook and every cranny - but I found when he was gone

He'd painted over the gas tap and I couldn't turn it on!

Oh, it all makes work for the working man to do.

On Saturday and Sunday they do no work at all;

So 'twas on a Monday morning that the gasman came to call...