She soon put that down
Submitted by Member; Slidertogrid
When I first went self-employed I worked from home, I had a few service calls each day. I was used to customers clearing away ornaments, pets and children while I clutched at straws, sorry ! Worked my magic…. This was probably because customers saw quite a lot of the repair man in those days and had learned that they got a faster and probably slightly cheaper repair if they cleared the decks and offered a nice cup of tea… Well maybe.
Anyway, this one particular house was Bedlam! The set was a 26″ Hybrid ITT with no picture. The cat and the young kids were ushered out of the room by the busy Mum, and I set about fixing the set. Just as I got the back off, the screaming Banshee came running back into the room, followed by the cat. She went straight to my toolbox and tipped the top tray out then screamed again and ran out of the room followed by the cat. I decided to tidy up when I had found the fault which didn’t take long as the PY was glowing nicely, the boost cap being short. I nipped out to the van and got a .47 and a PY and returned to the house, The Banshee was in the kitchen being gently told off for tormenting the cat.
I went back into the lounge and plugged in the Weller gun I replaced the boost cap, at this point the Banshee came back into the room chasing the poor cat around grabbing it by the tail. I turned the set back on forgetting in the chaos to replace the PY. The set came on and then with a splutter from the PY the picture width shot in and out. This reminded my to replace the PY. So I whipped off the top cap spring, pulled it out with my narrow nose pliers and chucked it into the back cover. The Banshee dropped the cat and made a beeline for it, and before I had chance to say anything picked it up. She soon dropped it back into the back cover! The screams then went almost ultrasonic as the Banshee exited stage left pursued by a cat!
I replaced the PY and the screening cover and assembled the set. As I was writing out the bill with absolutely no discount, Mum came back into the room. No sign of the Banshee, but the cat came back, and I swear I saw it smile.
Maybe lessons were learned and Mum and the cat got some peace?! Somehow I doubt it…..
Great story! I remember an incident, not involving a child but the family pet, a dog of questionable breed that spent it’s time sniffing around me and the TV and exploring the toolbox….one of those annoying dogs that just won’t go away…. I had removed the screening can around the line box to observe the PL500 anode glowing a nice cherry red. I had soon replaced the PCF802 line oscillator valve, the PL500 and for good measure, the coupling cap to the grid. The line stage sprang into life and the subsequent line whistle must have caught the dogs attention and before I could do anything, stuck it’s wet nose on the top cap of the PL500…..The yelp and subsequent yapping sent the dog and some tools scattering. With a satisfied smile, I saw the dog disappear out of the door and I was left in peace to set the width and check that all was well. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind dogs and certainly wouldn’t hurt one but some are really annoying and won’t take no for an answer…..
The customer paid up and hoped that the dog hadn’t bothered me too much….. When I went back out to the van, I saw the dog rubbing it’s nose on the grass…..