Friday 30 January 2015

Safe climbing!

I am not sure if the weather outside has an effect on electrical fixings inside the house but this week the light showing the meter for the solar tiles stopped working.
When it happened after David died it stayed off for several months before a kindly man showed me how to switch it on again! During that period the electricity went unmetered!
Since that time it has twice shut down but I now check fairly regularly and take action if needed.
There is a problem though. In order to get it working again a switch has to be pushed down. That's the easy bit. In order to reach the switch I have to climb a step ladder!
That in itself isn't a problem either but I am reluctant to do it in case I fall in the process!
A good friend close by fell in his bathroom and it was hours before he got help!
I joke that if I fell here it would be a week before anyone found me!
There is a serious side to this clearly so I now carry a phone around in my pocket....and I don't go up the step ladders unaccompanied .So this week a visitor had to be asked to stand by whilst I turned on the solar panels !
He would have done it for me but in my mind that would have been a cop out...I have to do these things myself...
If I get people to do essential jobs for me I will have finally arrived at the stage of helpless old woman...and I am not yet ready for that!
I have wondered though why everything has to be so high....surely they could be put somewhere that us old ladies can reach  without having to climb a step ladder?
It's all part of the ageing proccess that I am getting used to now but an easier solution ought to be possible without my dragging casual visitors up the stairs to stand by in case I fall off a ladder.
So far they have all been very good....thank you God.


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4 comments:

Babs said...

Be sensible Jean We used our very large boarded loft for storage. Over the years I have been clearing it so my visits up there are less. I have promised my family not to go up the ladder into the loft unaccompanied. So the minute someone comes I ask them to sit with a coffee while I go climbing. Not sure about when the Summer comes and I want to climb the ladder to dosoe pruning. Like you I try and be sensible but it is hard to be limited. xx

Revjeanrolt said...

There are bats in my loft....I am never going up there!

UKViewer said...

I wonder if you could get one of those extending arm thingies to reach up to push the switch, without using a ladder> Perhaps the long handled candle snuffers like we have in our parish church would suffice.

If we read that one has disappeared from the local church - wel'll know where to come looking. :)

Revjeanrolt said...

It's a good thought but it's much more complicated. There are little doors to open and four switches after that. Only the human hand will do for this one I'm afraid!