This is what I saw when I entered my house last night after work! A shiny brand spankin new creater of heavenly, sweet HOT water. The irony that is sat in the middle of the cold tile kitchen floor while I screamed in the cold tile shower was a little hard to swallow, but the thoughts of what I knew today would bring helped me be strong. Those thoughts helped me to rub a little hard, creating warm friction, as I lathered my goose-bumps under the frigid spray of the shower. Because I knew today would involve--finally--a warm, or hot if I preferred, cleansing.
And this is Sir-ate-a-lot-of-beans-last-night water heater installer technician dude. (Poor Joe.) He arrived shortly after 11:30 this morning (definitely pushing that 9-noon scheduled window) and remained in the apartment until almost 1:45. The joy, the excitement, the anticipation Joe felt was bubbling over as he headed toward the bathroom for the first warm shower in the house in a week. On the way to endulge, he passed through the kitchen only to find--a puddle of water! The brand spankin new water heating machine was LEAKING!
Quick, think fast, who do I call? Where's the number? Oh, no! Sir-at-a-lot-of-beans-last-night water heater installer technician dude is going to be on the other side of Rio in 30 minutes if I don't act fast. If Sir-ate-a-lot-of-beans-last-night water heater installer technician dude makes it to the other side of the city before I call him back it could be FRIDAY before he returns and Friday before we have hot water. HELP!!!
Call #1: to the technician number provided on the business card from the store. Who answers: the answering service for all technicians. The response: Please hold. FIFTEEN minutes laters: Joe hangs up.
Call #2: SUZANNE, our trusty friend and helpful translator in times of crisis, a.k.a. NOW!
Thankfully, Suzanne was able to reach the technician operator, communicate our need, and get Sir-ate-a-lot-of-beans-last-night water heater installer technician dude back to our apartment to finish the job. (This really isn't that big of a feit for Suzanne since she is Brazilian and Portuguese happens to be her first language, but it is pretty impressive to us non-fluent Portuguese speaking wannabes.)
AND AT LAST.................I have just ended the most magnificent shower I have had in what feels like ages but in fact is only one week.