01 September 2010

Water Interlude

The showers at the hostel I have been staying in are both clever and annoying. Each shower area is a small rectangle and there is no curtain between the shower area and the drying/dressing area. The lights come on automatically and you press a button to activate the water. It flows for about 30 seconds before it cuts out but it is possible to have a continuous shower by anticipating the cutout and pushing the button again. The water flow and pressure are good but in most of the rooms the shower faces the door and changing area so any towels and clothing below waist height get saturated and the floor is very wet.

I have learnt to always wear my nightie to the shower so I don't have pants legs to get wet, and to fold my towel and clothes into small packages that don't hang much below the hook level.

Last week I encountered a shower with a faulty light sensor and faulty shut off valve. The lights kept going out after about 20 seconds and the water was flowing for about 15 seconds at a time. The hot and cold were also cutting out at slightly different times so I had a brief very hot then freezing cold burst. To turn the light back on I had to either wave my arm out near the door, or sometimes put my foot on the ground. I felt like a kinetic sculpture – start the water, wash, darkness, wave the arm or leg, hot, cold, push the water button, wash a new bit, darkness, wave the arm or leg, hot, cold, push, wash, dark, wave. Curious!

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