h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Seriously, ask for compensation. That is ridiculous, especially over a holiday.

How did we ever manage without being able to shower every day? When I was a kid living at home, throughout the years I lived in Manchester and Lancashire, then back in London, all you could do was a quick wash of the boat race with a flannel and a bath once a week*. It wasn't until the 90s that I started having a shower every day, and even then it wasn't exactly a proper shower - it was one of those rubber shower hoses you fit over the two bath taps, and the shower was me squatting down in the bath so the water didn't go all over the floor (no shower curtain).

It wasn't until I moved here that I was able to take a morning shower every day.

*But oh, taking that bath on a Thursday or a Friday night after having waited an hour for the immersion to heat up the water, especially in the winter with a paraffin heater warming the room up and giving off that particular odour, was one of the best things in the whole world, and I really miss it

Today's the day they reckon we'll getting the hot water back. I'll lay even money that I still won't be able to take a shower in the morning, although if it turns out that they were able to fix it I'm taking a long, hot bath this evening, drought be damned.

I guess the first hint that something's happening will be if the water gets turned off during the day. Watch this space. And yes, I've already filled up several containers with water in case it does get shut off.

I have a round, five gallon Igloo brand water cooler. That's one of the handiest things I've bought for hurricane prep. I'm always bemused by the hordes buying crates of bottled water BEFORE the storms hit. The tap water is perfectly safe before the storm hits! (And usually after as well)

And yet again, I'm reminded of this quote.

"Morons. I've got morons on my team. Nobody is going to rob us going down the mountain. We have got no money going down the mountain. When we have got the money, on the way back, then you can sweat."

I have a water filter. Not one of those which go in the fridge, one of these http://kirkdistributors.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Clorox-35530-Brita-Ultramax-Pitcher.jpg The specs say it holds 18 cups, which by my reckoning* is a little more than a gallon. I also have a 6-quart stockpot and a 7-quart bowl for the stand mixer which I can press into service if needed.

*Not actually *my* reckoning. Duck Duck Go's reckoning

For my drinking water, I have a Pur filter on my kitchen tap. I fill a 2.5 gallon jug that I got for refilling at the grocery store.

I should probably get a new pitcher. There is a lot of white deposit stuff around the tap.

Oh. Looks like I'll be having that bath tomorrow night

"We would like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding in regards to the hot water outage that began Friday morning. We understand that the outage has been extremely inconvenient, especially during a holiday.

We would like to update everyone on the status on our boiler repair. We are waiting for the necessary part to arrive, which is being overnighted to us today. We are scheduled for the repair to be completed tomorrow.

We are continuing to reach out to other contractors to see if there is anyone that can assist us sooner. I will be sure to update everyone as much as possible."

Ah, I should have checked the timestamp on that email first, shouldn't I : 23 hours ago, so yesterday. Which means the work should be done today.

I'm keeping my chickens crossed, but not counting my fingers just yet In all the time I've lived here, and all the management companies whose hands we've passed through, I can only think of two or three maintenance employees who have been of any worth, and the best of those was a woman. Just about every single one has left because of the workload - the owners will neither spend enough money on upkeep nor employ enough maintenance people to keep up with repairs.

3pm and still no hot water

I don't see it happening today cos the water's normally off for four to six hours any time they mess with it It hasn't been off yet and I doubt they'll start work on it now

Something may (or may not) be happening.

"I will be sure to update everyone as much as possible."

The office closes at 6pm, so they've got 45 minutes to say yea or nay.

The hot water's off completely. Cold water still running. Optimism for a bath this evening slightly higher.

In all this time, by the way, I've seen the people from the office showing prospective tenants around. Bet they haven't mentioned the crappy water system

Looks like no bath tonight, unless I stay up very late:

"We would like to update everyone on the status of our boiler repair. Our contractor is currently re-installing the heat exchange and we anticipate the hot water to be returned by midnight tonight, although we are actually working very hard to have it restored well before then. Once the boiler is officially up and running, I will of course send out another notification."

But I'm (hopefully) going to have one hell of a shower in the morning

And a bath tomorrow night for sure.

Is there a city agency that you can file a complaint with?

And what about a rent credit?

I think I'm getting a whiff of your complex here in NJ.

Pee yew

If I was still at the Austin Motel, I'd invite you to use the shower there.

The Good News: I've had a shower
The Bad News: It's only a temporary fix
The Good News: We should have hot water again by 8am
The Bad News: Then it'll be shut off again for the final tinkering
The Good News: After that, the whole sorry business should over and done with

No water at all is terrible - unless you have enough warning to fill various buckets and things (for flushing the loo) which you seem to have had.

I find "no running hot water" quite a fun challenge. Since I was 19, I've showered and washed my hair every morning*. So as not to break this habit, on days when the hot water is off, I would stand in the bathtub with a couple of buckets of hot water (you've got that snazzy kettle, so you can do that can't you?) and wash in the one bucket, using soap/shampoo, then tip it over myself, then tip the bucket of clean water over again to rinse. Like in the old days of the tin bath.

* The only time I did without morning showers was in Iceland - you just don't need to shower there, and anyway we were about 20 women sharing a little wooden hut in a field with a small washbasin and a loo. When we had a chance, we would jump into a hot water pool. "Such fun!"