Brrrr. Ouch!!
Our outdoor shower is absolutely marvelous. Almost all the time. As I’ve mentioned, though, the water district has been having a lot of trouble lately. Our water has been completely off all night the last three nights, and only on intermittently during the day. Even when it’s on, the pressure is low. The trouble is, I need to wash my hair, and washing twoprops’ hair is not a trivial task. It’s been over a week since the last washing, and we’re entertaining for the holidays, and it just needed washing before HA (aka Braid Girl) starts refusing to touch it.
I waited until the water had been on with reasonable pressure for a while, then I took down my hair and got in the shower.
- After less than a minute, I heard the heater shut down: out of propane. Not a surprise as it’s been running on the same barbecue-size tank for two months. I switched the tank, and in so doing attracted the hungry propane mosquitos.
- I got back in the shower, and I soon began to worry that I would pass out from blood loss if I continued to try to shower with all the mosquitos. I went back in the house and got the Thermacell, which I don’t use often but which was mandatory in this case.
- The third time was not the charm. As soon as I started washing my hair, I could hear the water heater cut out again. Even though there’s only about three feet between the tankless heater and the shower head, the flow was so low that it took about a minute before the water turned cold. After all this tropical living, showering in cold water was uncomfortable. I turned the cold knob off and the hot all the way on, and then a surge of pressure caused the heater to fire up again. Over the next minute, the water went from way too cold to somewhat too hot. I managed to get some shampooing in during the sweet spot of the transition, before the cycle repeated itself. Several freeze-burn cycles later, I felt that I had washed my hair and I hope I’ve got all the soap out.
Fortunately, the hot tub was nice and toasty, so I finished the shower on a cold cycle then got into the tub to re-regulate my temperature. I’ll either have to switch over to catchment water (which might not solve the problem if my little diaphragm pump can’t deliver), hope that the water district gets their act together, or wash my hair at the municipal pool next time.
—2p