In what I hope is the final chapter of my water leak saga, I got an email from Anglian Water on Wednesday, saying that they’re doubling my direct debit because “We’ve noticed that you’ve been using much more water than we expected you to since the last time we reviewed your payments”. Hmm, I wonder why that could be. Perhaps it’s somehow related to the massive leak that you (a) caused when you fitted the smart meter, (b) told me I needed to fix, and (c, eventually, after me getting specialists in to trace the leak) fixed. At least it reminded me to fill in the form to claim the “leakage allowance” for the extra usage they charged me for while most of my metered water was slowly draining away under the road. Naturally the form made me fill in all my details, despite being signed into their website, then told to provide two meter readings, no less than 14 days apart. By an uncharacteristic stroke of luck, I did actually have exactly 14 days (plus a few hours) of readings since the leak stopped. To be fair to them, they did respond very quickly, and refunded £181.62, based on my usage since November compared to the average for the past two weeks. I assume they’ll keep charging me extra until they realise that I’m using less than they expected again. Now they have instant readings I ought to check whether it’s possible to just pay at the end of the month for whatever I’ve used, like I do with electricity and gas.
It was Fat Cat meet-up night again on Wednesday, with just me, Rupert and Mel this week. I arrived a bit late having run the long way home from work, so limited myself to a civilised two pints. I passed the friendly sheep again on the run. At least I’m pretty sure it was the same ones – they were a bit less friendly this time, but have had a haircut since last time.
I’ve been watching Small Prophets (interspersed with yet another Buffy rewatch), which is a nice mixture of weirdness and gentle humour. Still a couple of episodes to go, then I have a feeling I ought to check out The Detectorists, which I never got round to watching despite hearing lots of good things about.
A busy weekend, starting by cycling to Kesgrave for parkrun, before nipping home to change and switch bikes before meeting at the Cricketers for a small second breakfast and a pint before what’s become an annual ride in memory of Ben, who was killed in a crash with a car three years ago. We did a loop of just under 50 miles via the Sorrel Horse at Shottisham, the Green Man at Tunstall, the Chequers at Kettleburgh and the Moon and Mushroom at Swilland, before recovering back at the Cricketers. I was definitely glad to have decided to use my nice bike rather than riding fixed gear as usual.
Then on Sunday it was the Woodbridge 10k – a definite candidate for the best race in the local calendar. I wasn’t expecting much after Saturday, but somehow managed (I think – the results aren’t out yet) to just squeeze under 45 minutes, which is quicker than last year. Maybe because unlike most years it wasn’t boiling hot.