Disappointing Shower

I hadn't taken a shower for two days, so this morning after aerobics, I was really looking forward to getting clean. Our shower is a little different than American showers. We have a hot water heater in the bathroom that comes out of one tap. Then there is water that comes from the kitchen hot water heater that comes out of another tap. And a third tap has the city water, which is cold. The city water is not usually very strong. And usually the kitchen water heater is not on so it is cold. So usually I use the bathroom hot water, mixed with the kitchen cold water. It makes good water pressure that can rinse the shampoo out of my hair quite well.

I'm sure you can guess where this story is going, but here it is anyway. Today the bathroom hot water was very hot because we had the hot water heater on. Now when I say "very hot" I mean VERY HOT. It will burn you and not just on the sensitive areas. You HAVE TO have cold water to mix with it. Unfortunately the kitchen hot water heater was on for the dishes being washed. But it takes a few minutes for the water to get through the pipes, so at first it was cold. That lasted long enough for me to get shampoo in my hair. When I was going to rinse my hair, the water quickly turned to boiling, red hot water. So I quickly turned the water off. I tried to turn some cold, city water on, but it only was a trickle. There was no mixing possible. So instead I had to choose between third degree burns on my head or the trickle. I chose the trickle and rinsed my hair as best I could.

I'm thankful for hot water. For instance, last night we needed to fill a hot water bottle and we didn't even need to boil water to get it hot. Actually, I guess that is the only time that I can think of when the boiling hot tap water has come in handy. But I am thankful for water and the ability to heat it for my shower.