Our security guard alerted the building on Monday that the hot water system was being repaired. There will be no hot water for an entire week. This comes in the peak of summer, just when you would think the need for hot water wouldn’t be that great anyway. However, after taking a few cold showers in this apartment, I think my pipe is fed directly from the Arctic Ocean. It’s unbelievably cold water.
I’ve been hyper stressed out from work in the past few days. Classes haven’t been well organized, my schedule is a mess, and I’ve been dealing with children hopped up on sugar waiting out their summer vacation in a hot room studying English. It’s basically been a nightmare all week.
The one thing that soothes my nerves in the morning is my relaxing hot shower before work. I walk the dog, come back, strip down, and take a good hot shower to get the tension out of my muscles.
Now my shower is somewhere close to “waterboarding” as an activity I don’t want to do day to day involving water. It’s absolutely freezing water. I do my best to wash my hair and limbs, but I can’t get up enough courage to wash properly. I do the bare essentials to avoid stinking, but I haven’t had a proper shower all week.
My wife was laughing at me this morning when I walked out without completely getting in the shower for my normal length of time. “You are such a baby. Oh, the water is too cold. Bah! I can take a shower in cold water! Go cook lunch, I’m taking my shower next. ”
As I cooked the meal, she got into the shower. She was intent on showing me up, so she actually was doing her whole bathing routine. Not long after the water started up, I heard a shriek. “Water is really cold!”
I heard some fumbling with soap and the shower head. The water doesn’t warm up when you twist the knob any more, it just stops flowing.
“WOW! COLD WA~~~TER! Cold Cold COLD! BRRRRRRRR. WOW! SO COLD!”
This goes on for the entire length of her shower in both languages. There was much thrashing around and noise as she struggled through the entire process.
I was enjoying it greatly. She stepped out of the bathroom knowing she was beat. She might have washed a higher percent of her body, but she didn’t do it with very much machismo.
She gave me a look that said, “Don’t. Say. Anything.”
I grinned.
