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[Splinter]

A bit different over here as Christmas Eve is the big one and the 25th is just a day to chill out and recover.
Weird really, but then I should be used to it after seven years.
They start late though and it's not good form to turn up with a drink inside you.
So we went to Laura's house, being Adri's sister. Hand over what few presents we had and the salads and wine and coke. Eventually people start to trickle in and we all sit around like lemons from 9.30 till 10 chatting and still no one offers you a drink, even a coke would do.
(I had taken the precaution of having a couple before.)
Eventually I've had enough and open a bottle and they're on it like gannets.
Food is served and the feats commences.
Midnight comes and Santa hands out the pressies, missing me out as I didn't have the money to buy even Adri a present.
Argies don't drink much, but with a little encouragement they can be pushed a little; so we didn't leave till 0330 and after a couple of night caps when we got home, the sun came out much to my surprise.
Woke up the next day at 1300.
Not a bad result, but I think AA may be missing me...................
 

[keasy]

No wonder those Argies are always wanting to war with us. They're sober !

[Centurion]

I haven't seen a tree or Christmas decoration the whole time

Superb!!

[Glamdring]

Rubbish. Worst Christmas ever. Been ill since 24th. Much use made of the out-of-hours GP service. Have been nowhere except the loo, seen noone, got no pressies and gave none. Missed seeing my great-nephew whom I'd been looking forward to seeing for months.  

[Glamdring]

Wonder of wonders, spoke to a live person face to face; first in a week. He wanted to arrange loft insulation. I said no.                           

From my mobile so don't blame me for predictive texting.

[Wooster]

Maybe you should join Chat Roulette. 

[corroded]

I thought Glam wanted to talk to faces, not penises.

[Glamdring]

One of the ironies is that this year, for the first time ever, I actually bought a couple of Christmas decorations. They really brought me good luck... 

[Splinter]

Sorry to hear you've been ill Glam.
I hope things begin to look up for you.

[Splinter]

In this heat (33c) and holiday time, not a good thing when the fridge packs up!
Madly searching for a tech!

[Thermalsig]

Does it turn on? What's wrong with it?

Sent by  Droid X while sniping squirrels from my roof.

[Splinter]

Finally managed to get a bloke in to look at it.
It's a General Electric two door from USA. It's a little old but damn good.
Freezer side works, but not the food side.
Not sure what the problem is yet................bloke's got his head in it.

[Wooster]

I reckon it's a stick-on certainty it's the thermocouple that's gone (it triggers a valve to let refrigerant circulate in the fridge compartment).
The good thing is they aren't expensive (less than £20) or difficult to replace...unless he's a cowboy gaucho.


p.s. If he says the gas needs refilled or the pump is busted, he's lying.
The freezer wouldn't be working if either of those were the problem.

[Splinter]

I think you got it there Wooster.
Apparently there are two 'thermostatic discs' (literally translated from Spanish) that control the circulation of the cold air.
Since it's a frost free fridge they both have to work and periodically slow down the cooling and switch it off for a while to prevent frost build up.
One of these had died which he replaced. He's sure the other one is OK, but has advised us not to pack the fridge/freezer full of stuff in case the other one fails.
Makes sense because as he said, they normally replace both, but with the cost of imported spares and the xchange rate, prices have shot up.
Luckily this bloke came recommended by family and only charged us 280 pesos...around £40. Another, who was obviously a cowboy/gaucho had taken one look and quoted 1000 pesos.
Pays to go on recommendation.

[Centurion]

Nice one mate...you can live with warm food but not warm beer