Freezing

The boiler that's akin to the heart of the heating system of my house broke down yesterday. For the last couple of days it's been producing lots of noise (lots more than usual) when turned on, but nobody suspected anything to be wrong with it.

Last evening NH and I were having fried rice for dinner (irrelevant I know), and then he suddenly noticed that the boiler was leaking. So we put one of my big mixing bowls under it (I think I will wash it ten times before using again, the water stinks) to catch the water and turned off heating. So that began our pathetic no-heating lives, smack in the middle of winter. With double-glazed windows that don't seem to work (with double-glazed windows you wouldn't have condensation droplets on either side of the window, but ours have condensation on both sides, hence the mould in my room; we suspect the landlord cut corners).

And then YR dropped by for a short visit (he was just kaypoh to know about how NH's romantic holiday went), and when he saw how pathetic the mixing bowl was (it was filling up fast) he came up with a great idea. We constructed a 'water slide' out of aluminium foil, raised it at one end with the mixing bowl and in the middle with a baking tray (mine again...) so that the water would flow into the kitchen sink.

When we called the landlord, he was in London celebrating the New Year and said he would send someone here to fix it today. And when I came home after work today, it still wasn't fixed. The guy tried but failed, so he said he would ask the agent (of the boiler's brand) to come tomorrow. Argh. British efficiency is rubbish. Why isn't there any 24-hour emergency thingy, especially in winter!!! Furthermore, the landlord's brother said he'd send someone here to loan us some portable electrical heaters but hasn't come round by now.

The whole boiler is also switched off now so that no more water will flow into it, which also means we don't even have domestic hot water. Was complaining that I would definitely not survive without bathing, and even contemplated taking a cold shower. But taking a cold shower in mid-winter is different from taking one during the good ol' days at band camps. I don't think I could survive being drenched in cold water in an already cold room.

Then, thinking back on one day last year... I recalled my 'babies' (I babysitted someone's kids). Their heating system had broken down and the only way the kids could take a bath was for the parents to boil huge pots of hot water in the kitchen, then carry them upstairs to the bathroom. Hot water was then mixed with cold so that the kids could have warm water. So I decided to do the same.

Using NH's kettle, boiled about half a pail of water and after mixing it with water from the shower... I was left wondering why the water was still so hot. And then, it hit me. I realised that the shower in the bathroom I always use, unlike the one the other housemates always use, was an electrical one. Which means I could still have warm water for showering. Dang. Even NH didn't realise it when I told him I was going to boil water. Because he and the other housemates all find 'my' bathroom too small (oh come on, it's just narrow but the shower area is about the same, why are guys more fussy than a girl??), they never use it. Or only when the other bathroom is occupied. Muahaha all the better, my own private bathroom! And I don't have to share with them! (Would rather not go into detail how disgusting their bathroom sometimes looks...)

When I told NH that my shower works he took a bath immediately hehe. And because neither of us fancied washing our hands blue from doing the dishes with no domestic hot water, we ordered pizza delivery for dinner. A little spendthrift, but whatever, take it as celebrating new year lor.