A few weeks ago the hot water pressure started acting up. Sometimes it was there, other times nothing, although the cold water was working fine. Landlord had someone come over from his insurance company and – of course! – just before he showed up the hot water kicked back in again. So this guy reported back that there was no problem, even though I had told him it was an intermittent thing, and he actually told me (but not the landlord) that the water heater was probably blocked, so nothing was done. Spent the next couple of weeks fiddling with the cold-hot water taps to get the hot water to kick in, which usually happened.

Until last Saturday when it didn’t. And that was it, we’ve had NO hot water since Saturday morning. Not wanting to bother the landlord over the weekend I sent a text message hoping they could do something first thing Monday morning, which they did. Nice guy who came over late last night told me the water heater definitely needs to be replaced, called the landlord, and apparently no problem. Except now I have no idea when we are going to get a replacement water heater. Might be today (doubtful), more likely tomorrow or even whenever.

Meanwhile, we’ve been taking COLD SHOWERS since Saturday and – can I tell you? – it’s really really unpleasant and even painful. I’m actually considering booking a hotel or asking a neighbour if I can come over and shower. I mean, I could call the Corte Inglés right now and pay for a new water heater to be delivered and installed within 24 hours, but I already did that when the washing machine died earlier this year, and I really don’t think it’s up to me to replace these basic appliances. This is very frustrating.