I'm a pioneer woman, pal!

I discovered at 8 o'clock this morning we were out of hot water. I, of course, uncovered this problem when I was wanting to shower. I wish I could say this is the first time this has happened, but it's not. I would say in the past three weeks we've not had hot water about three times. Once was due to the water heater running out of oil. There is one large hot water heater which supplies hot water to the whole building, and it is fueled by oil. The nice thing about one giant water heater is we never have run out of hot water when taking a long shower, or having multiple people shower. The last two times there has been no hot water it is because the heater has needed to be repaired, which was the case today. Since I had no major plans, I figured it wasn't too big of a deal to wait on my shower. However, by 4 o'clock this afternoon I could no longer stand the feeling... and the monster pile of dishes in my sink was starting to be a real eye and nose sore. But what was I to do? I am not brave enough (at least in this circumstance) to take a cold shower. The first thing I thought of was Little House on the Prairie - I'm not sure why. I remember reading as a child about how they would have to heat up water to put into a tub to bathe in. This was also back in the days when people didn't bathe often. After having to boil water and lug it around, I can see why.  I took the three largest pots we have (good thing my pots arrived), filled them with water, and set them on the stove. After passing some time on my computer while the water heated, I carried the pots (separately) down the hall and dumped the boiling water into the bathtub. I turned on the faucet to add cold water to the boiling water. My plan was by adding cold water I would not only cool the boiling water down to a point where it was safe, but it would add more water to the bath thereby eliminating the need for me to go boil more water. I was wrong. Even with my plan, there really wasn't much water in the tub, and I had over-estimated how much cool water I would need... so I had a small, lukewarm bath to try and wash in. It wasn't quite as I imagined it. I had envisioned myself enjoying a relaxing warm bath (which I had gotten in my clever way despite the circumstances). I had even brought my book with me into the bathroom thinking I may enjoy reading as I relaxed in my nice warm bath. Needless to say my bath was absolutely nothing like I had planned. There was no reading. There was the bare minimum of washing. I emerged chilled rather than relaxed.

The water heating process was repeated for me to wash dishes... and it was as undesirable as before... only it took less water and I was less concerned about having enough water at a good temperature. I have been lucky and spoiled in that I have always lived somewhere with a dishwasher. Every house we lived in growing up had one. My college apartment had one. My house had one. Washing dishes by hand is nothing new to me, I've done it countless times in my life (who hasn't). Washing dishes by hand in Germany is certainly nothing new as it is the only way we can wash dishes. It isn't the first time I've thought about having a dishwasher, but I think it is the first time I have really truly missed it. As I was thinking about my beautiful stainless steel dishwasher back in my house in Montana, the stack of clean dishes I had washed/rinsed adjusted on the counter and half of them fell onto the floor. Maybe it was the disaster of a bath I had just finished, or maybe it was my general frustration at the water heater for putting me in the situation... but the falling dishes was one thing too many. I stood in my kitchen wearing mismatched gym shorts and shirt with wet stringy hair, staring at the dishes I'd have to re-wash... and like a three year old I started to cry. A pathetic and ridiculous site... especially when there is no one to see it. Not even the cats came to investigate. And for that reason the wine hour began at the Lehman house at 5 o'clock this evening.