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

The khazi (look away now if you're eating) isn't such a problem. I don't flush every time, to save water, unless it's number twos, and when it's just number ones I put a little bleach in the pan to stop the bacteria growing which make it pong, which it can do quite prolifically in the Texas summer heat if you leave it unbleached

Since I lived without constant hot water for so long, and also without a shower, not being able to have one every morning shouldn't be such a privation for me as it might be for most of the people living here, especially as I have the kettle, but I'm not set up for it any more. I don't have things like flannels (facecloths, some may say) for washing the bits I can't wash just by splashing water on them (cos it would make a mess on the floor) like you can with your face over the washbasin.

Compared to these past few days, I had better washing facilities when I lived in a delivery van! Each morning when I got up, even in the dead of winter, I'd fire up the Calor Gas stove, heat up some water and have a strip wash (there were curtains covering the windows, obviously ).

And there was one time, many years ago in Lancashire, when I came home one from work one evening to find no power in the flat (it was all-electric). After two or three days of me telling Norweb that I would be at home between noon and 1pm each day, and that if somehow they called when I wasn't there I worked no more than a two-minute walk away (instructions which they studiously managed to forget or ignore), one of their more diligent operatives actually checked the meter box in the communal hallway and found that my supply had been disconnected as if I was moving out Someone had either deliberately done it for a joke, or they had disconnected the wrong flat by mistake. Why the customer service people I spoke to on the phone each day couldn't have seen that from their records is beyond me. Long story short, I managed to keep warm with the paraffin heater I used in the bathroom, which was also the only way I had of making tea by putting a pan of water on top of it. Took about 20 minutes for the water to boil, but that was one of the cuppas I ever tasted, simply because of the wait.

Also long story short, there's hot water this morning And it's good and hot, the sort of hot it should be, not the just hot enough it was last night. I guess the boiler managed to get through the night without expiring again. These past four days have put a serious dent in my hand laundry schedule though because, as you know, we no longer have a laundry room in this complex

Traveller in Time looking away
"Thanks for the warning not to look, just the smell (prickly sharp by the bleach as well as the unattended result)

(did not look away either; hard to read . . . )

In service we did not have handsize cloths either, waste towels function as well (with a little cutting and sewing).

For some reason missing some 'basic' is fun, the reward of ~adapt and enjoy~ and doing as if nothing is missing "

Well, let's hope this time they get the boiler fixed properly.

If not, is your unit located where your windows might be visible to potential renters on their tours? Maybe consider displaying a "NO HOT WATER!" will add some incentive to your landlords.

My apartment is directly opposite the office

I think though, the only thing it'll give them incentive to do is to refrain from offering me a lease renewal when this one expires. Despite all their shenanigans plus the skyrocketing rents, I still want to continue living here, given some of the stories friends have told me about other apartment complexes. I'm sure there must be a good one (or two) around town, as this one once was, but the location is ideal for me, as a non-driver, and I'm still paying a rent that's less than I would for a comparable apartment if I moved.

Free market capitalism. Don't you just love it?

I guess the boiler is finally fixed, and working rather better than before because the water is notably hotter, although we've had no final confirmation from the office. I would have had that bath last night if I hadn't fallen asleep on the sofa from around 8pm until just after midnight, but maybe that wasn't such a bad thing because 'Wednesday night is bath night' was never a Thing. Tonight being Thursday though...

If I can manage to stay awake

Notably hotter? Oh fer cryin' out loud Noticeably.

Wait, does that actually work? Notably? I think that's okay, isn't it?

Spoke too soon

"Due to a plumbing emergency, we had to shut off the property water. We anticipate this repair being completed within the next 2 hours. Our contractor is already onsite and the repair is in process.

With the recent hot water issue, I wanted to make sure everyone is aware that the boiler is fine, and both hot and cold water will be restored shortly."

However, I have just received a rather contrite, if corporately-worded (you know, all that guff about "We take very seriously", "We didn't meet our standards/your expectations" etc ) note saying that they're going to give us $75 off the rent this month.

I should bleedin' well coco.

Bad timing though, given that the water's off again

"I take a bath once a week weather I need it or not" <> Is an old joke. <> . . . ..

I don't believe this. The water's off. Again. And I've just started a whole load of cooking

My commiserations

Back on after a relatively short two-hour stoppage.

I'd think about getting one of those 5 gallon water coolers and keeping it topped off with filtered water. You could use it daily for drinking and watering plants. It would act as a reserve for cooking and flushing for these recurring hyper-local droughts.

Yep, I'm seriously thinking about something along those lines. Having a couple of gallons of fresh water on hand at all times, because this is becoming intolerable And since there's yet another bunch of apartments going up next door (where the Golden Corral used to be and is now a great big hole in the ground), I expect it to happen again, like it often did when they were building that one they started about four years ago when I was still over at Fort Gosho.

Well, it's hot. But the pressure's nowhere near as much as it should be (I could say the same about my interwebs for the past few days), which I don't actually mind too much. My shower was every bit as good as when it's coming out in greater quantities and I've saved a bit of water. Hooray for the environment, hooray for me

Mind you, if I was filling a bath instead, I'd be seriously

The water's going off again for six hours tomorrow Thankfully, for once, I won't be here, but still...

What's more, my interwebs connection is showing signs of going the same way I've been with the same ISP since before we moved to this complex, so at least 15 years (not much choice really - they were the only broadband in town at the time, and getting another provider is still patchy). I have little beef with them - in all that time I've only ever been without internet for five or six days, but recently it's been not up to par. For a few weeks it's been intermittently as it should be, or it's been as slow as dial-up (I got less than 1 Mbps on one particular speed test), and then both yesterday and today it went out completely - yesterday for less than an hour; today twice, for a total of about two hours.

Heh, this guy got so tired of slow connections with Comcast, he built a Raspberry Pi bot to tweet about it.

http://arstechnica.com/business/2016/02/comcast-customer-made-bot-that-tweets-at-comcast-when-internet-is-slow/

Sigh.

"Over the past year, we have had many necessary plumbing repairs that required us to temporarily shut off the water for the entire property on a regular basis. In order to accommodate our residents and reduce the amount of property wide shut offs, we will begin installing individual water shut offs for all buildings. This will allow us to turn water off for specific buildings during repairs instead of the entire property.

The process will require us to have 4 scheduled water shut offs. The schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, February 16th
Thursday, February 18th
Tuesday, February 23rd
Thursday, February 25th

The water shut offs will happen no earlier than 9:00am. We estimate that the repair will take approximately 6 hours, however it may be necessary to keep the water off longer. We will work diligently to have the water restored by 6:00pm.

We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause anyone. We also appreciate your anticipated understanding during this repair."

In other words, instead of fixing the problem we're going to make it so that only one, or more, buildings at a time will have no water for the day. In the meantime we're spending a ton of money on cosmetic improvements that do nothing to make the actual apartments any better to live in

Dang it, I've just realised something.

Normally I'd be off on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, meaning today would be the only one of those first two dates that would affect me, but one of my co-workers needed Monday off this week so she asked me to switch shifts with her and I'll be off Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week - on two of those water shutoff days

What the heckity is wrong with the plumbing there?!? This has been going on forever!