Take nothing for granted...

... especially a nice warm shower.

In the past few weeks my showers have gone from the second most enjoyable part of my daily routine (1st being sleep), to my least enjoyable daily routine. Please note exhibit A.

exhibit A

This is the type of shower faucet that once graced my shower wall. The knob on the left turned on the water and the one on the right adjusted the water temperature. At least that's what it was supposed to do... and had done up until a few weeks ago. The past few weeks the water temperature in my shower has gone from reasonably warm to lukewarm. About two weeks ago, not only was it lukewarm, but it alternated between that and cold. I'd stand pleading with the shower water to warm so I could get the rest of the shampoo out of my hair.

.

Then, last Sunday was like the straw that broke the camel's back. The shower water was cold... the entire time. Now, if I were in some warm and exotic island, a cold shower wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. But, with the 32 degree weather outside, cold showers really aren't what I consider enjoyable.

.

So, after a number of emails back and forth with my landlord trying to figure out what could be causing the issue, we determined it was the faucet. He replaced the old faucet, with this wonderful, absolutely beautiful new one.

And today, taking a shower became the #1 enjoyable part of my day. I could have stayed in it for hours as the steam billowed upward, ... but I didn't. I did stay in it a bit longer than usual though, to make up for all the cold showers I've had the past week. I think the new faucet and I are going to be the best of friends throughout the rest of the winter months here in Amsterdam.