Unfortunately, I am not in hot water.

There�s no hot water. Last night as I readied myself for bed, the water got a little warm for washing my face, but not ever warm enough. This morning Buddy Boy said he tried to take a shower, and there was no hot water. So I traipsed downstairs to see what was amiss and, guess what folks, I�m a household large-appliance retard. The hot-water tank looks just like it always does and I have no idea what knob to turn or button to push (even if there were knobs and buttons) to make the water get hot again. So I�ve called Norm the Plumber and left a message, and if he gets back to me in this decade I will count myself fortunate.

In other news, I continue to not sleep well. It�s been really cold at night, and very stupidly we think it is summer and are leaving the windows open. The advantage is the fresh air, the disadvantage is that I now hear every extraneous noise from outside said windows. For instance, the cats are randy (I hate the sounds they emit), two morning papers are delivered early in our neighbourhood (English and French) and I hear both of them (including ours). One of the delivery guys has his windows open and is blaring loud rock music from his car, and the neighbour�s yappy dog starts yapping when their newspaper hits the porch.

Then there�s the train (remember the train that doesn�t have a caboose anymore?) coming by and blowing its whistle at the level crossing not a five-minute walk away and screeching behind our neighbours� back yards. Oh, and yes, there�s the other train that goes through town, which usually pulls 100 cars behind it, and in the still of the night it is LOUD and the reverberations echo up the sides of the valley, one of which being where we built our home. Normally I don�t hear any of these things, and I suppose that eventually I will get used to having the windows open. But I�m having trouble falling asleep (I usually do anyway) since I�ve had this cold, and last night I kept coughing because of a dry tickle at the back of my throat.

I shall stop complaining. It�s Friday and Jenny is coming to town. I hope she calls me tonight, and I hope she stays over here Saturday night, and I really hope we have hot water before then.

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