The night before the night before

Had a different night on Monday. We camped in the sitting room. You see, the lift got stuck. This time it wasn't a mechanical breakdown; it was the occasional thing that happens. We forgot the electric chair (which lives in the lift) was on charge, and we called it down and suddenly heard an ominous clunk. Jane rushed to the controls, pushed the red button and it shuddered to a halt three inches from the floor, with the chair suspended by its cable and the cable trapped in the lid. Jane managed to release the chair, which leaped down with a bang. She had to release the lift with button in the emergency box outside. The trouble was the cable wouldn't be pulled up into the bedroom - until Jane had a brainwave, which was to cut through it. Snip! Then she pulled it up. However even then it wouldn't respond to the 'up' button. It was well and truly stuck.

So the only remedy was to sleep downstairs, me on the sofa, with my feet in the air, and Jane on the sofa-bed. I slept surprisingly well, Jane not so well. But we proved it was possible. In the morning we rang the engineer, who rang back and talked her through various procedures - and then, suddenly, lo and behold, it took off and was back in action. Last night we were back in our bedroom - bliss!