They’ve hung their jackets on a shoogly peg, these people have.
Oh, what? You have no idea what we’re talking about? Let us fill you in.
A gentleman from the old property management firm we rented from, whom we called Lurk – because he did, though he was a nice enough man – called D. today. “Oh, hello, there,” said he. “This is X from Y Housing. Yep, I’m calling about the old place, on Lynedoch. Could you tell us how to reset that boiler? The new renters say it’s been out for two weeks, and we haven’t been able to get someone in…”
Oh. Good. Grief. Hello, inappropriate and ridiculous. How hard would it have been for the owner to have fixed that before insisting that someone new was shuttled in? How hard would it have been for the property management firm to have insisted on a new boiler!? Of all the stupid things! And then to call us — so we can tell yet another generation how to fish around inside a machine capable of blowing them up, with a wooden spoon, feeling around for one small gray switch that you can’t actually see too well, since there’s no light in the boiler closet…??
Aaaaaaaargh!
Oh. About that shoogly thing. It’s a footballer term, which we’re told has nothing to do with the game. As near as we can tell, it’s a trash-talking phrase that means you’re about the get the sack – your job is in jeopardy. (Maybe you don’t have control of the ball anymore?) All we can say is that “Y Housing” never did have the ball, never were on the ball, and if it were up to us, we’d take the jackets of the whole lot of them, plus the owner of the flat and put them on the shoogliest peg we could find.
And then let all the jackets fall on the floor.
Those poor new renters…!
These things only seem to happen to you guys. I don’t quite know why. Shoogily peg is more something unreliable like that boiler.
Ah. Well – that works, too, Jac.
And I KNOW! I swear, we attract weird. I don’t know why.
I think you should charge for telling them how to fix it – a pound for each advice call. You can charge for assistance with boiler repairs, mushroom removal, window winterizing…
Same thing happened to a friend of mine. Canadian winter and NO HEAT AT ALL in her apartment. Space heater was purchased. Many many calls to landlord. People wandering through. Promises made but never kept. And then when they moved out at the end of the lease were told that the heaters would be replaced before it was rented again but found out that the landlord told the new tenants that there was a “slight problem” with the rad in the living room, but the rest of the place was fine. Grrr. Stupid Jerks and Idiots.
I have never heard of this shoogily peg before. It’s kind of freaking me out.