what i was saying earlier about perils of diversification couldn't have a riper example than the two chuddy men. i didn't mind them both looking like bearded pards (whatever pards are,) but you do expect fridgemen to know about fridges. oh nono, they were too diversified you see. i don't say he wasn't a world authority on some of the other lines: garden furniture, home movies, musical lavatory seats and so on, but refrigerators, no. i rather suspected this in fact when they dunked mrs potter's love interest in the middle of the kitchen still wearing his plastic overcoat and just asked for the money - i mean they were extremely civil, and didn't criticise my tie, or complained about no flower arrangements, and none of your time-wasting chat about the weather like old chuddy. apparently mrs p did offer them an opening about weather, but they weren't too interested.

"oh how lovely, thank you... a nice morning this morning."
"150, please."

...

i suppose it was about four hours before we got the thing's plug on and its overcoat off, very tough material, this new stuff - full stretch no tear - like a tug of war with ectoplasm, and i finally pushed the button and nothing happened. i say finally - you could be wondering how this took about four hours - but there were other little jobs of course. perhaps you've never tried restoring order to one kitchen settlement that look like the corner grocer's after a gas explosion with a wealth of melting marge and unfrozen veggies slippery to the touch. about tea time we had a quick breakfast, warm chicken things and gin, which gave us a chance to plough through our 40-page instruction book with a half-page in english translated from the japanese. also to realise i plugged in the toaster by mistake. so when i finally found and pushed the buttons and the the little light came on, and there was a marvellous murmur of mechanism, now, is it too much to say that i felt like issac newton that time he discovered that apples fall down instead of up? but you wouldn't have thought so from the fond embraces administered by mrs potter. it's true she administered them to the fridge, not to me, but i understood that and i left them alone together. three's a crowd, as we all know. besides my typewriter was waiting, i could hear it calling me.

....

"the small, intricate life of gerald c. potter" series 3 episode 5, "the fridge." to be continued some more...