So very shortly it is likely I will have to call an engineer in to look at the system which was only serviced in December. But to find out how to reset the boiler I reverted to the instruction booklet which told me that the boiler may stop working in extremely cold weather.
But isn't that exactly when you need the boiler to work?
I don't hear many people when it's the middle of summer and 25 degrees saying: "Would you put the central heating on darling I think the temperatures tonight are going to plummet to 18 degrees and the boiler will work well."
Oh for my American readers those temperatures are in centigrade and not fahrenheit.
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Now it's time to come clean. Yesterday I related the sad story of the murder of Syd Wild in Cromer many many years ago.
Little did I realise at the time that a few years later I would become involved with a number of murders myself. Notice I say with and not in.
In 1989, I left the local press and joined Norfolk Constabulary as their first civilian press and public relations officer. My job was to organise interviews for the Media, give them information and front the media on behalf of the police.
This meant I became a crucial part of the police's investigation team during murders, serious crimes and major incidents.
A big mention here for colleagues Mel Lacey and Jon Smith - both serving officers who undertook a similar task with the Media and also dealt with some very high profile cases.
From my point of view the four murders that stand out in my mind were those of Johanna Young, Natalie Pearman, Thomas Marshall and a mother and daughter in the west of the county. Two of those have never been solved.
Natalie Pearman was a prostitute and drug addict whose body was found in a lay-by at Ringland Hills on November 20th, 1992. Natalie was just 16-years-old. It seems hard to realise that she would now be 45!
Over periods of months and years I got to know the Pearman family and particularly Natalie's mother Lin who co-operated fully with the Media through us. Sadly the case remains unsolved. Lin kindly offered to do a full interview with me for a Master's Degree at the University of East Anglia where I studied the affect that the Media has on victims of crime.
The other unsolved murder I mentioned was that of Johanna Young. Johanna came from Watton and was just 14 when her body was found face down in a pond on Boxing Day, 1992. It's ironic that the two murders took place within just over a month of each other. There was no connection between the two. Johanna's killer has never been found although the case remains open.
The Thomas Marshall murder was solved. Thomas lived on the North Norfolk coast with his parents. Kevan Roberts was eventually tracked down and sentenced to life imprisonment. I spent many hours at Happisburgh helping the Press with this one and it was a piece of inspirational police work that finally tracked down the murderer.
Recalling my "murder involvement" was prompted by my piece yesterday about the murder of Syd Wild at Cromer. Little did I realise when I read about that in the newspaper in 1984 that just five years later I would be working for Norfolk Constabulary.
My blog was read by my third cousin and his wife, Roger and Barbara Sandall. When I started working for the police, Roger held the rank of Chief Superintendent and was technically by boss' boss. At the time I didn't know that we were related, although I knew that my grandmother's maiden name was Sandall and that both Roger and my families came from Great Yarmouth. So it seemed a distinct possibility that we were related in some way.
A bit of detective work established that we share great great grandparents. Roger and Barbara are now firm friends of ours who we meet up with several times a year (when allowed to of course).
Roger was a brilliant boss and a first rate police officer. I am very proud to be able to call him a relation and a friend. His contribution to the city of Norwich was recognised in 2000/2001 when he was Sheriff.
When he read my blog about the Wild murder, he mentioned it to retired Chief Superintendent Maurice Morson who was the lead detective in the hunt for Syd Wild's killers. The result was a lengthy telephone chat with Maurice.
He retired from Norfolk Police in 1987 which was two years before I joined -so I never worked with him. Maurice describes himself as a hobbyist writer but he has had seven books published including "Norfolk Mayhem and Murders," "Norwich Murders" and "The Illustrated History of Norwich City Police."
We had a chat about the Wild murder and he told me it was the first case that a specific family liaison officer had been appointed to the family. This is something I also studied for my degree.
Incidentally if you are interested in my University work it is all available on my website at www.peterowensteward.weebly.com/university-researchvictims-of-crime.html.
A few weeks ago there was a question on the Saturday night games show "The Wheel" about police ranks and which of the following is the highest - police constable, sergeant, superintendent or chief constable. I was gobsmacked that not only did the contestant not have an idea, neither did celebrity Tanni Grey-Thompson (or Dame Baroness Carys Davina Grey Thompson to use her full title). She must have come across high ranking police officers in her time.
So as far as Norfolk Police is concerned the order of seniority is - Constable, Sergeant, Inspector, Chief Inspector, Superintendent, Chief Superintendent, Assistant Chief Constable, Deputy Chief Constable and top of the tree the Chief Constable.
Talking of stupid answers to questions. Tipping Point is the granddaddy of stupid answers. Yesterday the question was "Which Tudor Queen was the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon? The answer given was Victoria II.
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As Victor Meldrew said "I don't believe it." But this is a "I don't believe it in a good way."
Anne was due to have her COVID jab today (mine is next Thursday). We set off for Cringleford Surgery at 8.15 am. We parked in the car park, she went in for the jab and, before I could read three pages of Nicholas Nickleby, she was back in the car. We drove back to Hethersett, got some milk from Tesco Express and I picked up a prescription from the chemists and we were home 35 minutes after leaving!
Many people have said how impressed they have been with the organisation of the vaccine at Cringleford and I can add little to the comments already made. I was most impressed with the efficiency and the speed of what will ultimately help us to return to normal.
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Finally today, you can view three of the latest cuttings on Hethersett stories that have appeared in the local newspapers.