Shower Hopping

Well, it's winter time in Hong Kong, and I want to complain about our goddamn hot water heater. In the summer, a full water heater can get me a solid 10-12 minute hot shower. When the pipes get a little cold, like they did a couple weeks ago, 3-3.05 minutes of hot water is pretty typical.

Our hot water heater. Pretty small

These days, it seems like a bad idea to rely on a heater that only holds 18 liters of water (For those of you not used to the metric system, try to think of a liter as a smaller type of gallon). I recently tried to convince our roommates to invest in a new, bigger, stronger hot water heater, but they don't want to pony up the cash. I'm calling you guys out! Cheapskates! But if the readers of this blog know me personally, and assuredly they do, they know that I'm always thinking of new, exciting solutions to everyday problems. I'm happy to say that I've come through once again.

Our apartment has two showers that are right next to each other. Since I'm "lucky" enough to have to wake up at lest 45 minutes before my roommates every morning, I never have to compete for bathroom time. So I just heat up both, and about 3 minutes into the first shower, when the water goes ice cold, I hop to the next one, sit back, relax, and enjoy another 2-3 minutes of hot water. If I'm lucky, and I'm usually not, the first shower has heated up enough to give me a 1 minute bonus shower. At least we don't have central heat and the bathroom is freezing cold.

Dueling showers

I've turned shower hopping into quite the sensation here in Hong Kong. Anyone who's any one of my roommates is doing it! "You have the best ideas, Sam," enthused Meredeth Watson, hailing from Houston, Texas. "I shower hop all the time," said London's own Martin Middleton. "Sam's a right ol' chap for thinking of it. Cheers to him!" Taylor Schaeberg, 24, adds, "I also shower hop." Holly Sharp, 22, did not immediately answer knocks on her door when reached for comment. She may be out to dinner.

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee