A sh*tty day ...,

So, I'm at my mother-in-law's for a duty visit and become aware that the sewer manhole on the grass verge (part of the public highway) is leaking gallons of sewage onto her land (actually, into the tunnel that runs under the house).

She phones Severn Trent who, basically, deny that A) there's a manhole there and B) if there is that there could be a problem because C) the local pumping station is fine ... [we point out that it is impossible for 1 house to produce this volume of sewage and that (at 84) mother-in-law has little use for sanitary products, but they don't listen].

Eventually, I play the 'doctor card' and say that it's a health hazard: whereupon they decide they'll deal with it. The guy who arrives isn't surprised that there's a problem since the local pumping station isn't working properly...

Then the journey home (usually 90 minutes) takes 4 hours ...