(Alternate title: Switzerland is a first-world country, I swear)
We haven’t had any hot water in our building since Saturday. Thank goodness Scott was able to get in a luke-warm shower after his run that morning (or I would have had to banish him to the balcony for the rest of the weekend), but that was it. Given that it’s illegal to so much as wash one’s car on a Sunday here, we certainly weren’t expecting someone to come fix it yesterday. And they didn’t.
Last night I was starting to feel, well, dirty, and in desperate need of some cleaning. Unfortunately our dishwasher doesn’t have a ‘human’ setting, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. I got out our largest pots and started boiling water. I also boiled some in the microwave. I filled the bathtub half-full with cold water, and poured in the boiling water, one pot at a time. After the first round, the tub water was still pretty cold, and I was thinking this idea was pretty stupid. But I stuck with it, and after three rounds of boiling water, I managed to have a tub full of steamy hot bathwater.
So in conclusion, I am clean! Which is a good thing, since there still isn’t any hot water yet today, either. Surely Swiss efficiency will kick in sooner or later and get this problem solved. Until then, I’m staying away from my neighbors.
ooh, that just brought back a memory for me, of my dad doing that when I was a kid and we would stay at my oma’s house in germany, she still heated her bath water with a big woodburning furnace, and would only do it once a week, but I wanted a bath before her scheduled day, so my dad warmed all the water on the stove:)
aaah good memory:)
Now, on top of not having hot water, imagine not having running water…then the fun really begins!If you have to go and get your water from a tap a mile away you get used to your neighbors (and yourself) smelling funny!!
And yes, I know what I am talking about….at least I think that 3 weeks in Nigeria make me qualified….
Welcome to my childhood! We could only afford hot water during the fall & winter months.
Oh come on—admit that boiling your very own bathwater is fun dammit!