Contacts You Should Keep Close at Hand

Getting on with life, you invariably forget that you may need the help of outside professionals from time to time.  It’s not always easy to get a hold of certain types of tradesmen or specialists so it’s worth making some contacts locally, sending over Christmas cards regularly and keeping their details both in your phone and in your wallet – technology sometimes lets us down when we need it most.

Locksmith.  I remember the last time I left my keys inside the house, I was on the other side of the door with a toddler, a dog and a phone with 40% battery.  I started to ask for referrals and call down numbers but most were not available or quite far away on another job. Finally I got a guy who came out in ten minutes and his number will be in my contacts forevermore! You’ll find if you live in a city centre, that locksmiths are in hot demand so do store the numbers of a few capital locksmiths that you can call upon.

Plumber.  When things go wrong and water is going everywhere, time is of the essence so it would be worth either having a good insurance company that will call people for you and get them out immediately or having a local plumber or two in your rolodex to ensure someone can at least come and crisis manage to avoid maximum damage to your property.

Bank Manager.  Just in case, always hand to have the number of the person at the local branch as phone lines might be busy and centralised banking systems don’t know you from Adam and may not give you the same level of service.

Vet.  Many vet services may have an out of hours services but if they don’t – definitely keep a hold of a number to contact yours – it’s your pet’s life after all and it’s another one where time is of the essence.