Yes, I know it's crap TV, but faced with a pile of ironing on a wild and windy Friday night, oddly compulsive.
I now understand the stories about ex-city types retraining as plumbers. £150/hr in 30-minutes lumps, nearly all of which is spent standing about looking at one's watch, farting, making up lies, or rubbing your head. It's just like being a market trader !
One loose wire on an immersion heater turned into 1.5 hrs labour, unnecessary replacement of element, new seals on drain c*ck which were a figment of the imagination, breaking the old element over knee to "prove" that was the fault, finally finishing up with the wiring being re-made. Spent 10 minutes (chargeable) adding up invoice for £400-odd.
Next up, a loose ballcock on a water tank. Nicked a torch found in the loft, sat around, replaced two ballcocks (one on ch tank), kept old ballcocks, claimed second one was about to flood house, charged for three half-hours even though only present for two, £350 thank you very much.
Breathtaking.