Seeing that the 2012 Olympics have now finished, I have 3 last-minute medals to award.
Let me explain.
On the 7th August we ordered three large items:
1. A Separett composting toilet from a company in Germany. Why Germany? Well, their prices were the cheapest, and the French distributor promised delivery in four months. Yes, dear readers, you read that correctly. Four months. (The toilet itself is made in Sweden).
2. A woodburning stove with integrated back boiler from England. Why England? The prices were the cheapest, the selection of stoves was larger, and the French companies we looked at do not sell boiler stoves. The attitude seems to be “Why would you want a stove to heat water? That’s what electricity is for, n’est pas?”
3. A borehole pump from a company in Belgium. Why Belgium? Well, once again I didn’t want to order anything from a French distributor. As it’s now August, most French staff are on holiday. The reason I chose this Italian-made borehole pump is that it has integrated pump protection. I’ll go into more details when I put up a page about our borehole.
The above items were all paid for on the same day, Tuesday 7th August. Delivery for all of them was promised for the week commencing 13th August.
The bronze medal goes to:
Germany.
The composting toilet arrived today. (I installed it this afternoon in the outbuilding with the recently-discovered concrete floor). We’re both delighted with it as this means that we don’t have to apply mosquito repellent to our bottoms any more.
Second place, and the silver medal goes to:
United Kingdom.
The stove arrived yesterday (Wednesday). Weighing in at a hefty 130kg, it has not been installed yet, but we managed to move it into the lounge with the aid of two trestles, a wooden beam, some nylon rope, and my hand trolley.
But first place, and the gold medal, goes to:
Belgium.
Not only was the pump delivered on Monday this week (its scheduled delivery day), but it was hand-delivered by the Benelux area Sales Manager himself. (Thanks very much Frank, it was great to meet you!)