15.Our Technician Lyle

Lyle is very knowledgeable and vastly experienced. He also has a lot of common sense. I'm interested in such mechanical and electrical tasks, and he is alway ready to explain and to teach. We get on very well.

Today he came to help with the [downstairs] shower thermostat. For some time, the water there does not get more than luke-warm, whereas it gets hot in the wash basin and the kitchen tap.

I had followed the instructions in the Bristan leaflet, but without obtaining any benefit. Lyle checked and confirmed, that adjusting the control was ineffective. The thermostatic control cartridge had become faulty - we shall have to buy a new one, which Lyle will fit.
P.S. I phoned Bristan the following day - carefully finding a non-087 land-line - and my request was handled very efficiently. To my astonishment, they promised to post it within a week, and all totally free!

I also discussed with Lyle the question of thermal wall insulation. The local authority are offering it free to people of our age. But the man from Coldbusters, the firm they recommend - from around Croydon, found a problem. Building the extension over the garage, with a sloping roof, has created an inaccessible space at the side of the house. The man thought that a hatch to reach this space from inside the garage might solve the difficulty.

Lyle said that he could construct such a hatch. He estimated his labour at £150. But he was not sure that the insulation workers would be able to operate there: he suspected that they liked comfort. Also, unlike the insulation of horizontal surfaces [and we do have loft insulation], insulating vertical cavity walls does not contribute much to preserving heat. Much of our external surfaces actually consists of double glazing. The cavity is designed to prevent damp from reaching the inner skin: some insulation materials cancel this protection.

I had the impression that the man from Coldbusters had not been very keen on this job. Possibly he honestly did not consider it worth while. Certainly the job was not straight forward. I do not know how much he would have charged the Council. It sounded like a government propaganda gimmick in their scare-mongering about global warming. We agreed to abandon the project.

Lyle's exciting news was about his van. Some months ago, he was parked in his driveway at home, loading and unloading items. He had unwisely left his keys in the ignition. As he next emerged from the house, the van had been driven away - stolen. His insurance did not cover, as he had not taken 'reasonable precautions'. Luckily his employers loaned him a smaller van.
We told everybody. Since that event, I remove the keys from the ignition while paying at the filling station, and even while posting letters, in a deserted street.

Lyle's greatest loss was his vast collection of bits and pieces, obsolete components that could help in repairs. And also all his tools, of course, not to mention the value of the van. He assumed that the van would be cannibalized for car spares.

But last week the police phoned. His van had been abandoned and taken to the police pound - the 'decent' crooks had even left the keys in the ignition. Lyle had to pay £120 and the van was released.

The clutch was worn through and the windscreen was cracked. And it was totally emptied inside. It had new number plates, of course. In case of further hidden damage, the police were reluctantly willing to reveal to Lyle the purpose, to which his van had been put: to drag cash points and rip them out of walls - hence the burnt-out clutch.

It gives quite a new meaning to Judy's occasional trips to get money 'from a hole in the wall'.