Friday, May 08, 2009

Handy

Did anybody else in Beijing have their water coming out of the taps rust-brown and palpably gritty all day yesterday? I'm sure it can't have been just me, or even just my building.

It seemed imprudent to attempt to use the washing-machine, and I dread to think how silted up my shower water-heater may have become (it was making the most horrendous noises all day).

And today, of course, waking to an 84° C indoor temperature, I found that my shower had completely ceased to function.

I divined that the problem was probably that a 'filter' (fitted deep within the neck of the shower hose, inaccessible) had become clogged with sand, and contrived to remedy the situation by punching a hole through it with a screwdriver. (The screwdriver, of course, became obstinately stuck in the ruptured filter, and I went through agonies of, "How am I going to explain this to my landlord...?" ) I did eventually manage to extract it, and I am happy to report that my coolness-and-cleanliness option is restored. Phew!

Living in China teaches you a whole new dimension of D-I-Y.

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