Oil

The delivery of heating oil, needed two or three times a year, is a major event with the storage tank being at the bottom of the garden, the tanker being parked on the road, and our cottage sitting in between, with the only way for the 3” hose to get from one to the other being through the house; preparation for the operation involves clearing a hall passage of its resident clutter, laying a pair of thick old curtains over a small carpeted area, unearthing from the barn and installing in front of walls and doors, at a zig-zag in the route, two protective guards of my own manufacture (old carpet nailed to a frame of 2x1 and still going strong after 15 years), all of which takes several times longer than the 10 minutes or so needed to actually pump the stuff in, after which it all has to be done in reverse to get back to normality.