A Rant and a Ramble for the Weekend!

Rant first ….

Came down this morning to find a conservatory full of shattered glass. I didn’t hear a thing – most of it landed on the rug!

One of the inside panes in the roof had shattered, covering everything with glass shards. A south-facing pane, triangular in shape. My materials science training tells me that there must have been a tiny speck in the glass that on the mega-heating yesterday stressed the glass and on cooling later strained it making a crack propagate etc. It’s probably just one of those things…

Inside, some of the mess, and outside

I’m not sure whether I’m covered under my normal house buildings insurance – but I have a big excess on that which’ll be at least half the cost of replacing the unit, and of course they’ll put the premium up if I do claim, so that’s a non-starter.

  • INSURANCE IS ONLY GOOD FOR THE BIG CLAIMS – THE LITTLE ONES AREN’T WORTH CLAIMING FOR!

Then I headed off to the website of that mountainous home improvements company who erected said structure. Guess what?

  • EVEREST FOLDED IN JUNE. THEY ARE NOW EVEREST 2020!

They have no obligations on previous installations – despite guarantees etc. So my only course of action is to make a claim against the warranty insurance, which is still going, but requires mountains of paperwork and multiple repair quotes etc etc.

  • HOW CAN COMPANIES BE ALLOWED TO DO THIS ???

One of the reasons I went with Everest when I had my conservatory re-glazed three years ago was because of the guarantees etc (plus the latest glass tech. and a competitive quote at the time – but that’s not the point here).

At least with the outside pane still intact, it is weatherproof. I’m sitting here trying to summon up enthusiasm for clearing up the broken glass – at the moment I’ve just shut the door on it! The poor cats can’t access their tree.

…And Breathe…

Changing to ramble mode now. Firstly, some Shiny Linkiness.

Grave’s End by William Shaw

Shaw’s third DS Alexandra Cupidi novel is the best yet. Housing vs conservation is the main theme this time, with rather wonderful sections written from an old badger’s point of view. Brilliantly twisty, Cupidi’s daughter Zoë plays a good part this time, but it is Cupidi herself whose life is imperilled. Loved it. Read my full review HERE.

Notes From An Apocalypse by Mark O’Connell

O’Connell’s follow up to his wonderful Wellcome Book Prize winning To Be a Machine (reviewed here) is a survey of end-of-the-world movements. From the right wing white fantasists that dominate the prepping movement, to the billionaires buying hideaways, planning to move to Mars, to wild retreats and Chernobyl tourism, this book has a different focus with O’Connell himself trying to come to terms with his personal anxiety about the future. Some absolutely fascinating scenarios and visions. Read my full review HERE.

…and finally, incoming…

Two of the squeeiest books ever which are going straight to the top of the pile – the last seven of my 20 Books will have to wait. The first is Virginie Despentes’ 2006 part feminist manifesto, part memoir Hong Kong Theory, newly translated by Frank Wynne for Fitzcarraldo Editions – so that will fit in with WIT Month. The second I’ve been waiting for ever since it was announced, The Glass Hotel by Emily St John Mandel. I bought myself the latter, so I could get the exclusive blue page edges and through Blackwell’s I got a signed copy – she’s got a strange signature.

Which to read first – what a wonderful quandary!

20 thoughts on “A Rant and a Ramble for the Weekend!

  1. MarinaSofia says:

    Ouch, what a pain (sorry, pun unintended)! I have a similar-looking conservatory and now live in fear of such a thing happening, especially since it’s Barney’s preferred personal space and sleeping nook. Also, mine was already there when we moved into the house in 2005, so I doubt I could get any company to own up to it. I suggest burying your head in books, rather than sand.

    • AnnaBookBel says:

      The pun made me laugh! Bits are still falling off, so I’m going to leave the sweeping up a bit longer.

    • AnnaBookBel says:

      I’m just crossing my fingers that I can claim on the warranty for the conservatory. The books will certainly help to calm me down.

  2. Rebecca Foster says:

    Ugh, not a nice thing to wake up to. I hope your claim works out.

    I’ve been unsure about the new Mandel so will look forward to seeing your thoughts. I made a Blackwell’s order that arrived today 🙂 What with free shipping, slight discounts on the website, and using up a book token it felt like a bargain.

    • AnnaBookBel says:

      Blackwell’s is actually competitive with Amazon at the mo on many titles. I’ve been using the Shiny/my affiliate link which will help me too eventually (as I pay all the webhosting costs!).

  3. Liz Dexter says:

    So sorry about the conservatory – very annoying. I’ve never heard of that happening before and at least you have the outside pane. Good luck sorting it. And pretty books, though, hooray!

    • AnnaBookBel says:

      Books good 😀 – insurance bad 🙁 Still there are a couple of local companies who should be able to repair it.

  4. Calmgrove says:

    Unfortunately when tumbler on a drying rack exploded, shattering into tiny fragments, it was the exact minute when my mother-in-law died; and when more recently I came down to find a glass pan cover had inexplicably rolled off a different rack and smashed onto kitchen tiles, my wife had a phone call saying a friend had been rushed to hospital where he later had heart surgery (he survived but with an inbuilt debrillator inserted). I really do hope your conservatory pane shattering wasn’t the harbinger of some unwelcome news. To be fair, other glass, mirrors etc have smashed in our lifetime without anything untoward happening that we know of! But so many firms have us over barrels when it comes to insurance that isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on, so I’m sorry to hear about your bad luck.

  5. kimbofo says:

    Sorry to hear about your Everest woes. We had tilt-and-turn windows installed by that company about 10 years ago and they never worked properly. We had numerous people come in and try to fix them and no solution was ever offered. Because it was a “job lot” on our entire estate there wasn’t much we could do. I hope your claim works out.

    Enjoy your new books. I do like that blue edging.

  6. Café Society says:

    Commiserations! I have no experience of Everest but the trials and tribulations I went through with a different but equally well known company suggest that you wouldn’t have faired much better whichever seller you had gone with.

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