And the lesson learnt - never upset a man with power!!!
Posted: 24 Dec 2012, 11:20In our village is this massive building called The Grand Pavilion. It is about 100 years old and I have no idea what it was first built for but over the years has been used as a theatre and a nightclub, owned by the local authority. It is very run down and about 4 years ago the local authority started talking about knocking it down or selling it so a local action group started to save it. They have worked really hard over last few years and last week the local authority sold it to them for £1 so that they could have access to more grant funding.
Mick has helped them out on the electrical side, gradually rewiring it room by room.
This morning he had a phone call from the parking department at our district council to say that their parking meter (the only one in the car park outside the Pavilion) was not working and could Mick please go and turn it on (the power supply is inside the Pavilion). So off he trotted to turn it on but came home and rang the man to say no, he wouldn't turn it on as the parking meter box was damaged and someone could get their hand inside and electrocute themselves and as the power supply came from inside the building he and the rest of the Pavilion Group could be held liable if something happened to someone. He did say that although we were going out he would call back down this evening and if they (the district council) had repaired the box then he would switch the power back on.
The man from the council went off on one completely. We know exactly why - there is always a raft race held on Boxing Day (although I actually think it will be cancelled this year as the river is so high and it is still raining) and that car park will be packed and that particular parking ticket dispenser thing is the only one in the car park. I could hear this man shouting down the phone at Mick so in the end Mick just said that you can forget about your meter, it's Christmas Eve and I'm going out so it can wait until after New Year now before I go back and check. The man then really started ranting and raving so Mick just put the phone down on him.
Mick has just been back down there to double check that he did turn it off and has come back and rang the man back - not sure why - the man said that the meter had an RCD and it hasn't which makes it even more unsafe if someone can get their hands in it. The man (who we have now found out is a parking attendant) has left his office and is heading down to the parking meter to check that what Mick said is true so Mick has decided to go down and meet him there to point out exactly what is wrong with the meter!
He and the "leader" of the Pav group (who Mick rang to update him with what is happening) are really cross that a) this man seemed completely oblivious to what could happen if someone did put their hand in the meter ("it'll be fine" he said in a very sarcastic way, "we'll take responsibility if someone dies"
) and b) that he thinks a group of volunteers will drop what they are doing on Christmas Eve just to sort out their parking meter when he has been so downright rude to them!!
Had he spoken to Mick a little nicer then I am sure something would have been sorted out. Aren't some people silly and rude!
Mick has helped them out on the electrical side, gradually rewiring it room by room.
This morning he had a phone call from the parking department at our district council to say that their parking meter (the only one in the car park outside the Pavilion) was not working and could Mick please go and turn it on (the power supply is inside the Pavilion). So off he trotted to turn it on but came home and rang the man to say no, he wouldn't turn it on as the parking meter box was damaged and someone could get their hand inside and electrocute themselves and as the power supply came from inside the building he and the rest of the Pavilion Group could be held liable if something happened to someone. He did say that although we were going out he would call back down this evening and if they (the district council) had repaired the box then he would switch the power back on.
The man from the council went off on one completely. We know exactly why - there is always a raft race held on Boxing Day (although I actually think it will be cancelled this year as the river is so high and it is still raining) and that car park will be packed and that particular parking ticket dispenser thing is the only one in the car park. I could hear this man shouting down the phone at Mick so in the end Mick just said that you can forget about your meter, it's Christmas Eve and I'm going out so it can wait until after New Year now before I go back and check. The man then really started ranting and raving so Mick just put the phone down on him.
Mick has just been back down there to double check that he did turn it off and has come back and rang the man back - not sure why - the man said that the meter had an RCD and it hasn't which makes it even more unsafe if someone can get their hands in it. The man (who we have now found out is a parking attendant) has left his office and is heading down to the parking meter to check that what Mick said is true so Mick has decided to go down and meet him there to point out exactly what is wrong with the meter!
He and the "leader" of the Pav group (who Mick rang to update him with what is happening) are really cross that a) this man seemed completely oblivious to what could happen if someone did put their hand in the meter ("it'll be fine" he said in a very sarcastic way, "we'll take responsibility if someone dies"
) and b) that he thinks a group of volunteers will drop what they are doing on Christmas Eve just to sort out their parking meter when he has been so downright rude to them!!Had he spoken to Mick a little nicer then I am sure something would have been sorted out. Aren't some people silly and rude!
You can guarantee high that he will stand there manually issuing them just to ok left his revenue 