Monday, July 5, 2010

water closet


Many things about our home seem very Western,
but some of the differences are surprising.

By now, after almost a year in the country, we weren't surprised at the small size of the water closets, or the CRs (Comfort Rooms)

This is the upstairs CR that the kids share. Since taking a shower here makes the entire room wet (and it doesn't drain all that fast), we've opted to all shower downstairs in the master bathroom.

Here's the master bathroom. We brush teeth one at a time as we dodge the commode.

We were surprised the morning after we moved in when we realized that there were NO outlets in either of these CRs.
So we are not using electric toothbrushes, but we also weren't able to plug in the water heater.
That's right.
Translated that meant COLD SHOWERS.

In case you're wondering, yes, even in this hot climate, cold showers are COLD.

After asking around, Mark hired a couple of guys who do electrical work (as well as construction, plumbing and air con cleaning) to come and wire an outlet into the shower area. They came, and a few hours later they had that water heater mounted, plugged in and running.
Their total bill amounted to about $14.

And we now have the luxury of warm showers again.
How very much we take for granted.


6 comments:

thechurchcook said...

Hey, I love that shower and commode combo: that is called Asian efficiency! Get a shower AND do other necessities all at the SAME time!

us5 said...

:grin: you'll be asking Kevin to renovate your restrooms, right? asian culture is not a "bounded set" culture - boundaries are very fluid! that's why one can create one's own lane in traffic, or step in front of someone in line where there's room. i guess that mentality flows over into the restrooms - the boundary between the sink and the commode and the shower is non-existent!

Carl G. said...

More power to you!

us5 said...

amen, brother!

Judy said...

Sure beats a honey bucket!

us5 said...

oh yes! that's true, Judy. thanks for the reminder of how good we have it. :o)