Our trip to Siberia this summer fell during the two week period in which the city had no hot water. We were fine -apparentlyour hotel had their own water heater (most buildings get their hot water piped in from plants instead of a boiler-in-the-basement kind of system like in the US). Our translator was very matter-of-fact about it, saying that "well, of course, they have to make repairs to the pipes, so they have to shut off the water for 2 weeks every summer". Hmmmm... We had a hard time imagining people in the US being so matter of fact about no hot water.
Well, this week we had our gas turned off at home after we called the gas company to report a faint smell of gas (that I'm ashamed to admit I'd noticed for months, but had chalked it up to the gas grill). I'm sure the look on my face was priceless when the gas guy knocked on the door to say "Yup, you definitely have a leak. And I have NO idea where it is. So I shut off your gas. And you need to get that fixed before we can re-start it!" And I'm saying, "Uhhh, what? You turned off the gas and you aren't going to fix it?!" The very same gas that heats our hot water tank. And our stove. The hot water that runs my dishwasher. And makes my shower toasty? What?? So, several days, mucho bucks, and a million calls with the plumber, the city, and the gas company, our leak is fixed and hot water back on. But this morning, as I was pondering whether it was worth actually going to the YMCA to work out so I could shower (and the answer was NO - I haven't gone in so long I wouldn't recognize the place - why start now), I thought to myself, "heck, the Russians go 2 weeks every year without hot water. A cold shower isn't so bad, really." And yes, I did take one. And yes, it actually was pretty bad. I am a wimp about cold water - I won't go in a cold swimming pool. So it took me several minutes of huddling in the corner of the shower trying to get up the nerve to stick my head under the water. I went skydiving once, and I don't think I had as hard a time jumping out the door as I did getting under that stream of water. Now we have hot water again, so I could have just waited until this evening and I'd have been fine. But I'm glad I did it. I have some new respect for the Russians in the summertime. Then again, they probably just forgo showers, because it isn't so bad if everyone is doing it at the same time.
In other news - Owen has another ooey gooey ear infection. My poor little man. It was dripping everywhere. The Dr could hardly see past all the goo, and couldn't really tell if the eardrum had ruptured again or maybe had never healed all the way from the last time. We have to talk to the ENT to see if this will delay the tube surgery. I sure hope not. I'm wondering if he has ever really been without an infection.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment