Just being a grouch because I have a workman in my house.

He sounds like a thoughtless young man Flipping, I certainly wouldn’t leave him alone.
And yes, I hate having workmen in, even if they’re much much better than Flipping’s boiler man. I never know what to do with myself and ‘save’ household jobs so as to not appear lazy or old & daft.

My gas engineer is an Asian guy who comes every year to service the bioler and does any little plumbing jobs I need at the same time. He works quickly, does not chat, and leaves as soon as the job is done. Never brought a radio. Ive offered him tea, coffee coke etc but he always says he is ok. Perhaps he does nto want to accept anything not halal so fair enough.

I just get on with whatever I have to do, mostly on the computer. Im sure he prefers it that way.

Since my DH’s hip operation, we have been having a steady stream of tradesmen to our house doing minor alterations.

The painter and decorator was so messy and talking so loud on the phone, but the rest were okay.

I usually made cups of coffee, spend 10-15 minutes chatting and then I left them to it. We have an outside toilet they can use. Getting up really early in the morning is my biggest problem.

The other day, I even approached the tradesman working on my new neighbour’s house asking for his help. My daughter and her partner were struggling trying to dismantle my DH’s adjustable electric bed in our dining room.

He said to me: ‘Give me 10 minutes and I will pop over to your house to have a look at it’. Ten minutes later, he came, had a look at the bed, went back to his van and came back with the right tool.

I thought that was really nice of him to help a complete stranger.

Sympathies to you and your cat. I also hate having anyone working in my house. A necessary evil at times but I hate it nonetheless.

I need a new radiator fitted as one downstairs started leaking and the plumber said it had corroded badly inside. He is a good worker and never rips anyone off, so him being around doesn't bother me much.