A MOVING AND SHOCKING TALE!

Well, I have just spend the past week helping my Sister move from her three bedroom rented house to a one bedroom rented flat. Unfortunately it's a first floor flat in a very old terrace property and therefore has stairs as steep as the side of Mount Everest.
She has had to downsize due to monetary restrictions since losing her job through illness.

At present half of her belongings are being stored in our parent's garage, the rest, (once again due to money or, should I say, lack of it) we had to carry, push, pull, roll and drag to her new place ourselves.
We must have looked quite a sight staggering through the streets dragging BIG suitcases on wheels behind us while having wall units hanging off our shoulders, back and forth, back and forth, forth and back. Even Little'un joined the parade pulling a shopping bag on wheels full of bits and pieces.
We actually acquired quite a set of regular onlookers who would sit, watch and wave through their windows. One guy said we were doing such a good job we should take it up as a living "How much do you charge per hour?" We actually worked out that (going off the cost of her van hire per hour) we could have a million within ten years but each job would take us a FULL WEEK to complete, at a cost of £210 per day! So we have decided against it. Ha, ha, ha!

With a little help from our parents, she was able to afford to hire a small removal van for a couple of hours for her larger items such as fridge/freezer, washer, suite etc.
Well, when the removal van arrived (we of course were expecting a couple of big burly men to get the items up the stairs), what did she get? One largish guy who could hardly get his breath before he even reached the stairs and a small skinny woman who he had had to ring on the last minute for help, as his normal partner was off somewhere else.
Needless to say, my Sister ended up being his assistant when it came to humping the fridge, washer and whatever up the stairs! Did they knock anything off the price because she did half of the work? Did they 'eckers like! (Northern England phrase meaning similar to - 'No chance of that happening!').

Anyway, by yesterday morning she was in, settled and the flat looked lovely. Bit like that TV decor/furnishing programme 'Sixty minute makeover' apart from the fact that it took us a week!

My Sister is not exactly happy dealing with anything electrical and therefore rang me to come set up and programme her video and DVD into her TV, having done this for her the last time she moved, I agreed and said it would only take me a short time to fix it up.

Oh, how wrong I was........

Kneeling on the floor behind her TV in the corner of the flat, I was happily plugging scarts in here and wires in there when...........

ZAP!!!...... ARRRRRGHHHH!!!...... FZZZZZ!!!....
Don't know what I had touched but it packed one hell of a clout! I instantly leapt backwards, stood on her beautiful new curtains which were draped ever so stylishly down to the floor, they then ripped from the wall pulling down the curtain pole right on top of me!!!!!!
After getting over the shock, (which must have taken, ooh, seconds!) we did what any normal person wouldn't, and just fell to the floor in absolute hysterics.

I must have looked like something from an old fashioned slapstick comedy.

In between her giggles she was trying her hardest to ask me seriously if I was OK, as there were tears pouring down my cheeks, I tried to explain, when I could get my breath, that I wasn't crying in pain, I was crying with laughter! MY main concern was, were her lovely new curtains OK?!

What started out as a daunting and arduous task ended up being the best fun and laughs we have had together for quite a while.