No Hot Water

I sort of looked like this, even the dazed
expression looks like me. (Image courtesy
of Wikimedia, painting by Bocklin.)

Yesterday morning, my son Matthew said, “Hey, were you running the dishwasher or washing machine while I was in the shower?” With a huge sense of dread, especially since I hadn't showered yet, I said, “No. Why?” Matt replied, “There wasn’t any hot water.” (Cue notes of doom.)

I tromped down to the basement and checked the fuse box. The fuse hadn’t popped. I pressed on the fuse to see if there was any give in the fuse. I heard a crackling sound. It sounded remarkably like arcing. I pretended I didn’t hear it.

Next step, was to remove the front panel of the water heater and check the circuit breaker. It had popped and wouldn’t reset. ACK! I went back to check the fuse box. And pressed the fuse again. Again, I heard the arcing. So I turned off the fuse and announced to the boys that we wouldn’t have hot water for the day.

But, I still needed a shower! And though I lived in Connecticut for years, I am not one of those Yankees who finds a cold shower “bracing.” I just think it’s cold and I get goose bumps. So I heated a kettle of water and washed myself. And then, there was my hair. It’s waist-length and tangles really easily. But there was nothing for it, I leaned into the bathtub and washed my hair with a mix boiling water and cold. It worked.

The problem is that washing my hair upside down makes it really, really tangled, in spite of using conditioner. And I made the mistake of not combing it out until it was dry. Afterwards...let’s just say that I could have given Medusa a run for her money. And I had errands to run. So, I wore big dark sunglasses and pulled my hair back—it didn’t help.

Thankfully, Last night, Calvin and my dad got all the breakers replaced and restarted the water heater. I can’t wait to wash my hair.