We Are Living Little House

Laura Ingalls watch out! We're taking over hygiene without modern facilities and we're doing just fine. We still don't have our hot water tank. They called yesterday morning to ask if they could install it that morning (heck yeah, come on over!). We were surprised by how quick it was and looking forward to hot water again. The installers get here and guess what? WRONG HOT WATER TANK! *sigh*

It seems we are special. We can't just have a REGULAR hot water tank. Ours needs to have a power vent on top so carbon monoxide doesn't back up into the house due to the way it is vented. (Ohhhhh, so THAT is what that was on top of our current - 1974 - hot water tank model.) We are SO special that they have to special order it from Whirlpool. Didn't I say we were special? We are beyond special because it is going to cost us $400 more than our original quote now. Shouldn't I feel really special now?

So now we wait. We were told, as they are charging our credit card for even more credit card debt that we didn't need, that it will take a week for them to get it in stock from Whirlpool and then they can schedule the installation.

So, how are we staying clean? Well, it has been in the 90's here so I put the kids in their bathing suits, go outside with a bottle of shampoo, and hose them down. Everybody but our youngest loves it. For my husband and me, we boil water and dump it in the tub. Then we boil more water and dump it in the tub. After doing this a few times and then adding some cold to make it comfortable, we have a few inches of water to bathe in.

Hubby says we are Amish now. Somehow I think they have better facilities than we do right now.

Oh well, we are expecting warm temps for the next several days so the kids can get by just fine with the hose and a bottle of shampoo. I, for one, would prefer a FULL tub. *sigh*

Read more...

Ack! Dreams will get me thru the week.

Ack! Our hot water tank died on us. It's been a slow death for it. My husband has been relighting the pilot for months now to extend its use but that finally stopped lighting. It's 34 years old so I guess it can be retired permanently now and a replacement brought in (like we have a choice). While picking out a new hot water tank tonight, we were pricing a new bathroom vanity and bathroom lighting (ok, we were dreaming while trying not to think of the price of having to replace the tank). Our house needs some serious remodeling still. I am going to keep dreaming about it as I bathe in cold water over the next week until our new tank can be installed. We are going to go back in time and boil water for baths, lol. This should be a fun week!

Read more...