With all moves there is a certain adjustment period. It takes some time to get used to your new surroundings. I acknowledge and embrace this. However, one should never take for granted certain elemental aspects like HEAT for example. Upon arriving back in the UK from the US, the temperatures plummeted to subhuman lows. (See previous post re: snow.. yeah.. Texas girls don't do snow well).
One would assume that the flat would be equipped with heat. It is in fact. I have radiators in each room with temperature nozzels on each one. Naturally I assumed that turning these little things to the left of the right would regulate temperature in said rooms. Hmm. After a few hours of still being frozen like a popcicle, I realized that something was drastically wrong. With little icicles dangling from my eyelashes, I started a frantic search all over the flat. Surely there has to be a main control. A thermostat. SOMETHING.
Hours later, I have scoured the flat, searching high and low for this master control. Standing on chairs to look up at the Electrical Fuse closet (having had to find that my first day here after blowing a fuse), I didn't spy anything that looked remotely like a thermostat. I even got on my knees and crawled the length of the flat searching for a gas nozzle only to end up with rug burn on my already tender knees. Starting to really feel like a hopeless Bridget Jones, I tucked the rogue strands of hair behind my ear and carried on. Chanting to myself, "I will not fail... I will not freeze. I will not fail", I started outside. Maybe there is something out there. Picture the headlines now, American gets trapped in garden entry attempting to find Gas thermostat. Hilarity Ensues".
After locating the water meter, the gas meter, and the electricity meter but no nozzle, I started having flashes of London CSI stepping over my frozen body 3 weeks after I died from frostbite. No one knows where I live. No one will ever find my body. "I am going to die a frozen blue popcicle in the dead of winter in a foreign country", I think to myself. Well not really, this is a little exaggerated. But I did consider that I might possibly fail at being a European on my first official day on the job. Seriously Metalchick, get a hold of yourself.
About this time, I step back into my apartment to notice that the heaters are on! Eureka! Something I did obviously had a positive affect. Well obviously it wasn't that simple. I seemed to notice that it was now exactly 7pm. (yes... hours later... hours of me crawling around trying to figure this shit out). But now I had a different objective. I needed to find a timer. I had recalled the fact that the boiler has a little clock looking thing on it. It was ticking away like a little bomb about to explode. This boiler also happens to turn on the gas when I turn on the hot water... Hmm... Yes. You got it. Only 10 hours after realizing I was freezing cold did I notice that there is a timer on the boiler for the heating element. And they call me an engineer. So sad.
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6 comments:
There are worse ways to get rug burns, Bridget. --Sid Vicious
Ahh yes I suppose you're right. I suppose you haven't heard about my debacle with the ramps at Kyle field? That was NOT fun.
May I say that cute Texas girls were not meant for weather below 75. That is all I have to say
I know... Texas girls are meant to wear cute flip flops and denim skirts. Have you seen the new Austin Barbies? They have Dallas Barbies too. You should send me your email and I'll email it out!
pepepippy @ yahoo dot com
No I havent seen them. Are they hippiesh? Student? Yuppie?
By the way it's supposed to get in the teens here next week, but no snow is forecast. It's going to be miserable. Miserable I tell ya
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