Bleeding a Radiator – the Greek God(zilla) way

Bleeding a Radiator – the Greek God(zilla) way

Many of you will already be familiar with the Greek God(zilla)’s unique approach to fixing things around the house.

His solution to repair almost every crack, tear or hole is to apply a strip of parcel tape over it.  View some examples here.

Recently, he has been trying to improve upon his DIY skills as evidenced when he successfully took on the painting of two small bedrooms.

But, a handyman he is not and there are some things that really should be left in the hands of professionals, or my Dad.

Like, bleeding a broken radiator.

It is so obvious now what is coming next so WHY OH WHY OH WHY OH WHY OH WHY did I not see it coming at the time?!

It was a typical Friday night in many ways.  The Greek God(zilla) came home from work early, so we took our son to the village for a haircut.  A visit that was well overdue, but I had put off because a little trim sometimes has a tendency to turn into a big chop when I am not looking (possibly because I am busy chatting and drinking wine…) and I prefer to keep a bit of length to his hair.

Anyway, this time when I instructed the barber ‘not too short!’, I also gave him ‘The Look’, which shows I mean business.  It is a look that is usually reserved for times when a bucket of Lego is about to be emptied onto the kitchen table 2-minutes before lunch, or when the Greek God(zilla) picks up the remote control during Eastenders.

It worked like a dream and we all left very happy with the results.

We eat out most Friday’s.  If we are not meeting the HPMcQs for fish & chips on the strip, we might head out to our local Italian together, or perhaps go for a bit of pub grub.  However, on haircut days we always go to Pizza Express as the restaurant is right next door to the barber’s and is our 5-year old’s favourite.

We had a lovely evening chatting about our day, eating and making plans for the weekend.

It was close to 7pm when we returned home and almost bedtime for one, wine time for another…

We all went upstairs to change into our PJs and for some reason, this is when the Greek God(zilla) decided to bleed the radiator in our son’s bedroom.

I started to prepare ‘The Look’.

“It won’t take me 2-minutes!” he said.

So, we sat bored on the bed while he took out the screw holding everything in place and filled a Tupperware container with smelly radiator water.

A medley of swear words catapulted our attention back into the room, followed by:

‘I’VE DROPPED THE SCREW, I’VE DROPPED THE SCREW!’

Every time he took his finger off the hole in the radiator to try to locate the screw, water started bursting out everywhere.

‘WHAT DO I DO? THIS IS A NIGHTMARE. PUT YOUR FINGER IN THE HOLE! PUT YOUR FINGER IN THE HOLE!’

‘GET MY PHONE’

‘WHY IS WATER EVERYWHERE?’

‘TURN THE RADIATOR OFF!’

Eh?

‘YOU HAVE TO TURN THE RADIATOR OFF OR COVER THE HOLE’

No amount of parcel tape in the world was going to save this radiator.

‘USE YOUR FINGER!’

So, that is how I found myself on a Friday night with my finger covering a hole in the radiator while the Greek God(zilla) called a professional for advice on how to avoid flooding the entire house.

Hint: next time TURN THE CENTRAL HEATING OFF.  Or, you know, pay someone who knows what they are doing.

When the water was under control, I shot the Greek God(zilla) one of my other looks, which basically translates to ‘I told you so/what were you thinking?!’ but is very self-explanatory when you see it.

Meanwhile, sensing an opportunity to be had out of adversity, our 5-year old set up camp in our bed.  He had taken his own pillow, Bear, and a selection of cars into our room so he had something to play with should he wake in the night.

‘I’ll have to sleep with you tonight, Mummy!’ he said, practically rubbing his hands with glee.

Leaving the Greek God(zilla) to plug the hole with a bit of wood chipping (that’s a new one!) and banished to the guest bedroom for the night.

14 Comments

  1. March 16, 2015 / 9:03 AM

    Whilst it must have been zero fun or amusement at the time, sure makes for a comedy blog post. I do love these tales of the Greek God(zilla) – hahaha just made me laugh out loud on the train (now everyone thinks I’m a loon!) xxx

    • Grenglish
      Author
      March 17, 2015 / 6:19 AM

      I thought you would like this one RM x

  2. March 16, 2015 / 9:07 AM

    ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha just what I needed on a dull Monday morning 🙂

    • Grenglish
      Author
      March 17, 2015 / 6:20 AM

      It’s all sorted now though, must remember to stock up on the tape!

  3. March 16, 2015 / 11:24 AM

    This did make me laugh when it popped up in my emails this morning. I have a husband who is just the same, though he is more partial to duct tape which at least looks nice and silvery. He uses the damn tape to sort out wobbly frying pan handles, showers and even drooping branches on our plum tree.
    He once put a drill through a water pipe and caused a flood, just when we were trying to sell our house.
    But don’t you just love ’em 🙂

  4. March 16, 2015 / 12:35 PM

    I am sorry I bet that was so not funny – but I was howling with laughter.
    WHY do they do these things at such stupid moments?! I hope you managed to get everything sorted ok.

  5. March 16, 2015 / 2:11 PM

    Oh funny! I don’t think Actually Daddy would even know how to get the screw out in the first place. Which is why I do everything 🙂

  6. March 16, 2015 / 2:39 PM

    Oh my gosh… (I am not laughing though, honestly 😉 It must be a man thing, my other half also takes on really odd DIY “challenges” at the oddest of times… 😀

  7. Oh that is so funny! Can just picture it, sorry 🙂 I was thinking of making a youtube video about how to bleed radiators – and the first thing is to turn the heating off lol! Next time, I could come, for a fee of red wine obvs 😉 X

  8. March 16, 2015 / 3:06 PM

    I shouldn’t laugh, but it’s such a relief to know that I’m not the only one married to an accident-prone buffoon! It’s a good job we love them eh?

  9. March 16, 2015 / 9:34 PM

    Oh dear, even my husband is a little more handy than that and I love that your son cashed in on the situation. Mich x

  10. March 17, 2015 / 9:26 AM

    Oh dear! I know it was not funny at the time, but for some reason you have me giggling. You should write a book!

  11. March 17, 2015 / 8:03 PM

    Oh no!!! Two minute jobs turn into 3 hours in out house all the time!!

    I hope you got it sorted. x

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