I don't believe in horoscopes, lucky mascots, omens, fortune tellers, karma, omnipotent gods and the like. 

I would like you to believe that I'm not superstitious. I am a rational scientific person. There is no such thing as luck but..

Once upon a time back in the mists of time - Friday 13th October 1995 to be exact - I had an experience that did make me wonder.

For some  reason (probably because I'm not superstitious, I'm rational and scientific etc.) I decided (or rather Mrs Windbag and I decided) that we would move into our new house on the aforementioned date.

Previously we'd lived in rented accommodation and we didn't have much in the way of furniture so this wasn't a major job. In fact I worked in the morning whilst Mrs Windbag waited for a plumber to come and connect in a power shower. I would then pop round in the afternoon to keep her company while we waited for a fridge, washing machine and new bed to be delivered.

I was in the canteen eating lunch (not dinner I was living down south at the time) when I was tannoyed. This was the first (and last) time this happened to me. I raced back to the office to find out what was wrong. It turned out Mrs Windbag had been on the phone. The previously mentioned shower had been connected and now water was pouring through the kitchen ceiling.

I phoned the plumber to ask him to return to the house and headed there myself. No sooner had I arrived then the doorbell went. The plumber ran straight past me and up the stairs to check out the problem in the bathroom.

Without going into the details it turned out that the man we bought the house off was keen to save money by doing his own plumbing. He was also completely incompetent at plumbing.

So as the house dried out we waited for our white goods and furniture.  

First to arrive were the domestic appliances. The fridge was fine. Unfortunately when it came to plumbing in the washing machine it turned out we couldn't. Once again without going into details it was going to need some DIY.

So now with a little trepidation we waited for our flat pack bed. Upon its arrival we took all the parts out of the pack and checked against the instructions. It turned out we were missing a crucial part. I forget the details now but it was a major part of the framework.

Not only had things gone wrong on Friday the thirteenth but just has the saying goes the problems 'came in threes'. 

Anyway I'm sure we won't have the same problem with the 13th edition of Yorkshire Windbag.

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