The journey continues…

Some time has passed once more, and I don’t have a load of things to show for it.  I went to an interview for a contract role in Limerick.  It went well, and I’m still hoping to hear back on it – once more the wheels turn slowly.

The chemical treatment of nasty weed things has gone well – they’re looking very unhappy with themselves.  I actually need a good chunk of it to die off before I can tackle the stuff lurking behind it.  There’s a parcel of about 2 acres that I can’t reach at the moment due to weed infestation – clearly there’s no particular need to get at it, but since it’s there it has become a bit of a challenge.  Wading in (perhaps literally if the start of autumn’s rain is a sign of things to come) doesn’t seem like a great idea, especially when the septic tank percolation area is around there too (according to the previous owner’s map).

I tried to light the Aga the other day, and did actually succeed after downloading a manual and playing around with it for a bit.  Playing around involved opening a couple of valves, waiting 15 minutes, then chucking some lit matches in the chamber near to the wick.  I think that’s the gist of what the manual wanted me to do – I got bored after the first few pictures.

Unfortunately things didn’t work out well on that front – Extreme Smoking occurred for a while (which I was sort-of expecting), but then it settled into car exhaust levels of smoking, which it kept at for the next 90 minutes or so until I concluded that:

1. the carbon monoxide alarm in the kitchen wasn’t to be trusted
2. all of the smoke probably wasn’t supposed to come out of the flue box and into the kitchen, and that the traditional means of venting was in fact via a chimney

I then turned the oil off and removed the front of the flue box.  There was no ‘draw’ at all up the chimney – I tried lighting a bit of newspaper and putting it in the flue, but it just sulked down to the base rather than merrily flying up to meet with the crows on the roof.

Phoned the landlord – he wasn’t overjoyed and didn’t sound like he believed me when I said the chimney needed sweeping.  I’m pretty sure that he should have had it done every year anyway as part of the insurance, but he said he’d got the Aga going last year fine, so it must be ok now.  He actually suggested that I try lighting it again.  I respectfully declined the offer to gas myself, however well-meaning it may or may not have been.

He did say he’d get someone to sort it, so looking forward to that.  We’ve got 500 litres of kerosene arriving on Monday, which I’ve worked out should last us until the end of the lease (roughly).  270 Euro, including VAT and delivery… can’t complain too much at that, although I do think it’s poor that there’s quite high VAT on heating fuel here (13.5%).  In the UK I think it’s 5%, which even allowing for the normal difference in VAT levels (20% in UK vs. 23% in Ireland) seems more reasonable for an essential item.