My shower had stopped producing hot water shortly after I got here but it was not a big deal as it was so bilitzen hot and a cool shower was wonderful...but then the weather changed suddenly and hot water was needed. Here is how you hire a plumber;
I happen to walk by a house one day and you see a guy working on a hot water tank, it is not his hot water tank because I just happen to know who lives there, so he must have been commissioned to fix it, so he must know what he is doing. Makes sense to me. So I stop and ask "are you a plumber?" He answers "what do you need fixed?" and I take that as code for "yes I am a plumber". I explain my chilly situation and he promises he will be over as soon as he is done here. I think "pff, will never see him again".
Well, he shows up as promised and fixed my water heater thing, I had a great hot shower, it was hotter than it had ever ever been, I'm thinking this is great. I go to turn the heat down a bit and as I touch the knob I get a wee little shock...or was it a shock, it felt like a little shock, but maybe it wasn't, so I touch the knob again....yup, it was a shock. Yup, in the shower, wet and of course sin clothes, they make horror movies with scenes like this...I think. End of shower.
So I find my plumber guy again and this is how the conversation went, in Spanish of course.
Me: Hey Mr (because I couldn't grasp his name the other day) my shower is great, it is very very hot, hotter than it has ever been but when I touch the knob I get a little shock....here I also act out getting shocked because I forgot to look up the word "shock" and couldn't think of a substitute.
Mr: Oh that's normal
So I think my acting was bad and start acting this out again, seriously, there is only one way to act out getting shocked, you don't need to be no Meryl Streep to do this. I'm pretty sure I nailed it this time.
Mr: yes, that is normal
Me: No I don't think so
Mr: oh yes I have the same system in my house
Me: I don't like it much
Mr: It's because you are tall like me (he was very tall) and your head is so close to the shower head.
Me: No, I don't think that's why, it never used to do this before
Mr: were you barefoot?
Me: chuckling...yes, of course (no need to mention naked too)
Mr: if you wear shoes it won't do that anymore
Me: Shoes? I need to wear shoes in the shower?
Mr: Not shoes, just flip flops will do
Me: I don't like this, I don't want to die in my shower
Mr: laughing...has never happened,
Me: can this be fixed, I don't want to be the first?
Mr: I'll come look on Monday
This conversation took place about 2 weeks ago, Mondays have come and gone. I have been wearing flip flops in the shower and have never gotten a shock since...but, the water has also never been as hot since...go figure.
A week after this conversation he comes to the restaurant to eat and when he sees me he says "oh, you're not dead yet, you're still here"? He laughs and I call him a clown....I can do that now, I have learned how to call people names in Spanish, that has opened up a whole new world for me.
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| Here is my electric shower, many north Americans here call it the "suicide shower", When it works properly I think it is a genius idea, it eliminates having a hot water tank and only uses electricity when in use. To fully appreciate this genius contraption you have to first forget everything you have ever heard about having electricity n the shower...this takes a while. |
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| sunset shots from the hammock at the "old bull". |
