Showers of Blessing

We had our showerhead fixed yesterday. As you may (or, most likely, may not) remember, our shower produced this tiny gravity-fed trickle of hot water which theoretically should have any Victorian staying well within the water restrictions. Once I figured out how much time it takes to actually wash anything (especially long hair) with a low-pressure, coin-sized drip, these saving benefits are gone. I also had a glimpse into living in the "olden days", as the antartic winter winds whip through the vent window in what I affectionately think of as the Attached Outbuildings. That little trickle of water had no hope of staving off the cold blasts.

Today was different. While the hot water is still low-pressure, the plumber took the restrictor out of the system and installed showerhead with a larger surface area. What a difference! It's what I remember showers at my sister-in-law's house to be like - even though they have a low-flow showerhead, they have normal water pressure. The shower was nice and steamy, and I stayed warm. I had to force myself to move on.

It actually made me very thankful for having even just our Outbuilding with a coin-sized drip. I think of people who live with much less, whether voluntary or involuntary, and am glad we have a roof over our heads.

On the lighter side, it is also probably a good thing that I've gotten used to a bit more shower flow again, otherwise I may well have been blasted through the bathroom wall when I visit the States!

Teaching Old(er) Dogs New Tricks

They say it's never too late to learn. A woman I work with is taking computer courses to learn how to use the programs. Another chap does this regularly as well, moving from one course to the next, simply to keep himself learning.

I learned something new today, thanks to an email my buddy Heidi fowarded. Did you know that all those aluminium foil and plastic wrap cartons have a little tab on the end of the box to lock the roll into place? I never knew this. I'm sure I've had a roll of plastic wrap jump out of the box more than once.

I've had to learn new spellings (check out "aluminium"), new driving techniques (the other side of the road), and new units of measure (Celsius, Litres). Well, I haven't really learned Celsius yet, but at least I can pronouce it. According to the Weatherzone.com.au, 16 degrees is colour-coded "mild", 12 degrees is "cool", and 6 degrees is "cold." But to figure out how cold it is I still have to convert to Fahrenheit. Or go outside.

You'd think I'd learn to put a jacket on by now.

To Coordinate or Not to Coordinate...

We were very blessed during our move into our rental home. Wonderful people donated gifts of furniture, manchester (linens), plates and other sundry items that we had left behind in the U.S.A. Amazingly, many of these items coordinated with each other, and with the colour scheme of the house. I still call it a miracle.

The house has a muted tan and green colour scheme. The walls are textured, and the floors are hardwood in the lounge, tiled in the toilet and bathroom areas, carpeted in the bedrooms, and covered in linoleum in the kitchen and laundry. The linoleum is especially good at disguising dirt, owing to its pattern of cream, green-grey, and shiny gold flecks.

While that dirt-disguising linoleum is often a blessing, I am seriously considering the concept a floor that is contrasting to my dinnerware in our next house. As I was washing the dishes earlier this week, two of my lovely, coordinated Corelle plates relocated straight onto the floor. As Corelle is wont to do, the first plate bounced; the second plate exploded. This was no namby-pamby shatter either. This was a "Mythbusters" giant concrete mixer half-full-of-cement/half-full-of-enough-explosives-to-blow-up-a-mountain vaporisation style explosion. Tiny pieces of glinting tan-and-grey Corelle plate were just about everywhere they could be across the entire tan-and-grey glinting kitchen floor. I now had to find approximately 2,376 glass needles on a flat haystack.

I swept the entire surface twice just to be sure I'd gotten it all up. So, I'm thinking a nice dark grey floor next time. On the other hand, do they make rubber plates?