Pete’s Law

~ beetleypete

Experience has taught me to live by this simple law.

‘IF SOMETHING CAN GO WRONG, IT USUALLY WILL’

Yesterday, the new washing machine was due to be delivered and installed. Things started well, with a phone call at 9 am to let me know the men would be here between 1 and 4. I took Ollie out early, so I could make sure to be around when they turned up. After a decent walk on a cold bright day, I arrived home and waited.

As promised, they arrived just after 2:30. The procedure was to remove the old one first, then while they unpacked and prepared the new machine, I could clean out the space that hadn’t seen the light of day in years. The water supply was turned off, and they used a special ‘slidey mat’ to move the heavy washer out into the main part of the kitchen.

Seconds later, ‘Pete’s Law’ applied.

It turned out that the guy who had installed that machine in 2011 had ‘hard-wired’ the electrics, using a junction box, and isolator switch. The new machine has to be plugged into an existing socket, and there wasn’t one at the back. There wasn’t one in range of where the machine was to be installed either. The men from the shop are not allowed to connect the machine by hard-wiring. That has to be done by a qualified electrician. In this case, it is now apparently illegal to wire a washing machine like this anyway, as it is not ‘waterproof wiring’.

The men were sympathetic. They made phone calls to the shop. But nothing could be done until a proper socket is installed in the space, and the previous ‘dangerous’ wiring removed. They put our new washing machine back on their van, and said they would return on Sunday, as long as I could get the electrics in place by then.

I was now faced with having to get our (very good) electrician to come and do the job in five days at the latest, and of course have to pay him for that work too.

After two phone calls and two emails, he has agreed to come tomorrow morning, to do the required work. Meanwhile, my wife has to drive 28 miles each way to her daughter’s house later, with two bin-bags full of washing that cannot wait until the weekend. And I am left wondering what further electrical issues might be discovered on Wednesday.

Is it any wonder that I am a pessimist?

90 thoughts on “Pete’s Law”

  2. Mr O suffers from the worst case of “Pete’s Law” in the history of humanity. He is the unluckiest person I have ever met when it comes to totally random misfortunes… which of course means I am infected by association!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  3. Hope you get your washing machine installed soon, Pete. If Sam ever read this he would laugh. He started the career ladder in 1976 as a qualified electrician, but now does something else. He says he’s too old now for ‘house bashing’ and crawling under floorboards!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. The electrician came and installed a socket this morning. Hopefully, they should now be able to deliver and fit the washing machine on Sunday! Can’t help wondering what will go wrong next though,,,
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  5. Pete’s law seems pretty spot on. The dangling wires of non working broadband wires in my home are a testimony. First the wire was not long enough, next, the connector modem was missing, then their was a tech issue in the backend. Now the guy went MIA.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. 😂😂😂classic Pete. I missed you so much. Sorry I haven’t been on much. You know I fell sick and because of that I didn’t do work, now I have all the homework and notes on my head doing a nice dance apparently it might be doing salsa.

    I loved your post. This one is great, I am sure everything will be fine. The good news is you got activity to do. The bad news is….you know right. Glad to be back to the classic Pete rant fever. 🙂✌💗😂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. I know. But you never know when bad luck turns to good luck. Just stay positive and positive things will happen. Trust me. I know what I am saying.
        Thanks, Pete. Although I am still a bit weak, I am better than before. 🙂✌

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  9. Pete’s Law? No wonder I’ve had had so many similar experiences I could write a book—I’ve always written it off as bad luck. I hope things work out on Wednesday.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  11. When something can go wrong Pete it usually will. On the other hand, hard wiring a washing machine is dangerous and you were lucky to have no problems over the years. Now you can have a plug installed and bring that piece of wiring into this century!

    🙂

    Besties from cool Florida.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  12. Your tale reminds me of buying our gas range. A plumber had to come and disconnect the gas line. Then the appliance was delivered. Then the plumber had to come and reconnect the gas line because the appliance guy wasn’t allowed to do it. Agh!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  15. Pete, you are not alone! I just had my roof replaced…of course, once up there they see that the AC/Heating unit is old…”replace it now” they advice, “because when it goes out, and it will soon, then you’ll have to tear up all the new roof that is connected to it in order to install a new brace to hold it.” So, the price of my roof project shot up 60% like that!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  17. No problem with wiring here! Although it’s a bit spooky when the touch lamps and ceiling fan lights turn on and off all by themselves… As for the washing, there’s always a sink, detergent, and the squishy-squishy technique…

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Thanks, Darlene.
      I know it’s not just me, although some days it certainly feels that way.
      My wife has taken all my boxer shorts to her daughter’s, with the rest of our washing. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  21. Pete, we had similar issues when our water heater went out. It had been installed in a closet in front of the electrical panel. No longer in code (if it ever was) the new water heater could not be installed there. Long story short, we had to install the new one in the garage which meant re-routing the plumbing and the electrical. It was a costly addition to just buying a new water heater. I feel your pain. Hang in there.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  26. Make sure they use the new hoses that come with the machine. When they last did ours I didn’t realise that they hadn’t bothered feeding the new hoses through the holes to where they connect and had just used the old ones. When it was moved out to fit new floor covering, the rubber washer on the water supply was perished so we had water all over the floor, and the waste hose was kinked because they had trapped it.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  27. I can not imagine why an electrician would have hard-wired the old machine. It would have been just as easy to connect the electrical wiring to a socket. Oh well. The one suffering is your wife. Isn’t there a pay laundromat closer than 28 miles?

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  28. Not a pessimist , realist is the word your looking for and realists know that simple jobs are never simple.
    Electrics are tricky and regulations are on the move all the time. Kitchens now need large numbers of sockets and the practice of putting sockets close to the floor has been revised. I’m sure you will get it all sorted and then you can sit back for a month or two.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  29. We had a washing machine delivered in the summer. We knew some plumbing would need to be done and paid Currys to do this; however when the men came they hadn’t been told. They said we should get a plumber and Currys would reimburse us. We did this and it took until last week to get our money back.
    My husband is a pessimist but I am an optimist so when things go wrong I always take the view that they can be fixed

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Thanks for adding your own experience, Sarada. I always use a local shop in town, then I can easily pop in and talk over any issues that arise. It’s slightly more expensive, but the local shops keep Dereham alive. Besides, the nearest Currys is over 20 miles away. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  30. Oh, although my Dad was no electrician, she did pretty interesting things to the wiring of the apartment building. I blame the huge increase in devices we use (you would only have one single socket in most bedrooms, but now you need a huge amount to plug everything in…), although I convinced my mother to get an electrician to make sure the new sockets are safe (I didn’t like the sparks every time I tried to plug something in). I hope for once your law is wrong, but I know it well. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you. Good luck, Pete!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. Thanks, Olga. I confess that I am sometimes beaten down by the sheer number of things that go wrong these days. I have just stopped expecting anything to work, or go smoothly. It’s a part of my character that I am not happy about at all.
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Like

      Reply

  31. Wow! That was a googly you could have well done without. It always amazes me that washing machines aren’t fitted with rear castors and a retractable strap so that you can pull it out, if for no other reason than to level it, because once they’re in, they’re a bugger to level, especially when there’s so little clearance under the worktop. I can’t see that these would add significantly to the price. It was always a job I dreaded, when I fitted kitchens. Cheers, Jon.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Thanks, Jon. I agree, levelling is a nightmare, and one of many reasons why I pay the small fee to have it ‘installed’. Then if they do it wrong, they have to come back and fix it. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Like

      Reply

  33. Oh, no, what a pain! When we moved here the removal men put our washing machine in place without removing the stabilisers from the back. It’s in a cupboard and not easy to remove. Fortunately I was able to contort myself enough to get them off, but boy was I cursing! BTW why didn’t they leave the machine with you?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I told them to take it away and bring it back on Sunday. It was packed in a huge box, and I had nowhere to store it. Plus the old one was left sticking out so I can clean behind it today. It’s too heavy to shift on my own, and I don’t have one of those ‘slidey mats’. I will have to use polish or washing up liquid to get it to slide around.
      The only good thing about yesterday was that the electrician was able to take the job. 😦
      Best wishes, Pete. x

      Like

      Reply

  35. As someone who is married to a sparky, I am well aware of the stories involving dodgy wiring techniques, just to get things plugged in! And of course, hearing the phone calls from friends who have moved into houses, then called him to ask why a certain item is tripping, to find a whole host of “interesting” electrical add ons created by non qualified previous owners, often all running on old fuseboards that are being pushed to their limits! So, all I can say is good luck 😉

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

All comments welcome

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.