Hot Water and Bathrooms

Hot Water… Can you live without it??? I haven’t had hot water since Irene hit 2 weeks ago. Other than taking a shower… well really washing my hair… I found I can live without it.

I do my laundry in cold water. My dishwasher has a cycle where it heats it’s own water. I heat up the teakettle when it’s time to wash the dinner dishes. So what’s the big deal???

My mom lives a town away, I could always go there to take a shower, but that would then require the obligatory visit of about 3 hours and a ride in the car… when all I want is a quick shower. 

I am fortunate enough to have a friend live just a few doors down the street… with hot water.  I pack up a few things and just like camp, I hike to the indoor plumbing.  That has its drawbacks too. I feel I need to be invited over, or schedule a shower time in advance… so I don’t interrupt their evening. The other night they called at 8:30pm and asked if I needed to use the shower. Well… no, not at 8:30 I didn’t. I was immersed in a project at the moment and it wasn’t a good time to stop. However, at 11:00 I was totally ready.

So here it is, 11:00pm… I’m sticky from the muggy day and all I want to do is take a shower and go to bed. What to do? What to do? HARK! I know!!! In the spirit of making lemonade out of lemons, I decide to make this a special ‘event’.  In the kitchen I put pots of water on all four burners to boil. I gather a few candles and matches… and pour my self a glass of wine.  I head upstairs and begin to fill the tub with chilly water. It has been AGES since I’ve taken an actual bath.

All in all it wasn’t so bad. The four pots of water weren’t quite enough to heat the bath water to a comfortable level… not to mention the effort it took to haul them up there without spilling. There was no way to wash my hair and rinse it without freezing (so I skipped it), and I realized too late that the only soap dish in the tub is way up high. At least I was able to wash away the grit and grime of the day and go to sleep feeling clean.

Hot showers are still a dream to me. I'm so jealous you can take a hot shower any time you want! Short of calling in the professionals… I have tried everything to fix my hot water heater after the flooded basement. Yesterday a friend came over and actually got the pilot lit… but it didn’t hold. He’s trying again today. If it doesn’t stay lit today, it’s time to call in the big guys… and hope it doesn’t take my last nickel to pay for it.

Speaking of my bathroom… I think my daughter and I should win an award for 2 adult females (and 2 dogs) sharing (and surviving) the world's smallest main bathroom.

This is our bathroom. That's all there is. The door is on the right, the tub on the left. I am sitting on 'the throne' to take the photo and my left knee is hitting the wall at the end of the tub. The one and only electrical outlet is behind the towel and we have to open the bathroom door (which doesn't stay shut unless you lock it) for elbow room just to blow dry our hair. It's cute, it's cramped, but at least it's easy to clean. All I want is for hot water to come out of that ONE faucet. Is that too much to ask???