Shampoo, Tomatoes, and me

Just an update on the JR Liggett bar. I still like it. It still is doing a great job. And my shower time has been greatly reduced. So reduced that I don't really have a time to turn off the water whilst I do something else and then turn it back on.

My tomato plants are hanging in there. One that appears to have been the victim of a varmint attack (as several branches are leafless) has a few fruits on it, and as of a day ago, maybe one flower. I feel as though I'll be saying goodbye to that plant shortly.

In happier tomato news, some of the tomatoes are ripening and getting color. Since I don't actually remember which plants are which variety, I'm not sure which ones are supposed to be yellow versus red, but guess that'll come...um...naturally.

Here's a question for you veteran tomato gardeners: If the skin has split on a tomato, should I clip it off now, or let it ripen and just eat it?

How are your summers (in the Northern Hemisphere, anyhow) going? Any garden experiments?

Anyone else having water heater issues this year? (was just looking back - in February, the one in our apartment had issues, then recently the one in our new house did, too! Am I destined to take sponge baths or cold showers?)

Shampoo Crisis Voided

That little bit of shampoo stretched out for quite a while. My husband got his own, and I was able to search through my collection of previous shampoos to keep from running out completely.

Then we moved. Then the water heater stopped working. (Right about the time I finally used the last of my shampoo.) Through a series of frustrating events, we weren't able to have the repair guy come out for about a week and a half to two weeks. (Yes, we had tried to re-light the pilot, but it wouldn't take because of a burnt out part!) With my hair washing schedule thrown into the mix, there was a good long stretch (at least a week), where I didn't wash my hair.

Things I did try while waiting for the water heater to come back to life: a cold shower (I chickened out), bar soap (gift) while washing my hair under a faucet, and scarves wrapped around my head.

In the middle of the Great Water Heater Disaster of 2010, I had a wedding to go to. Luckily for us, my uncle lives close, and we used his shower the night before the wedding. Also lucky for us, there was a block of hotel rooms rented for the wedding, with one standing open, so we could use that and its hot water.

With no hot water, I wasn't really washing my hair, and when I did, I was using the above mentioned bar soap (which had been a gift, and I'm reasonably sure didn't have too many bad things in it). When the water heater was fixed, I needed shampoo. So back to the drawing/research board. I settled on the J.R. Liggett shampoo bar, mainly because I knew I could find it in at least one area store, and had read good reviews about it. Oh, and the lack of sulfates was a big plus. I've been using this bar for a week or two now, and so far, so good.

There you have it. Because I know you were on pins and needles, waiting to find out about my shampoo and hot water situations.

Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink.

That line is taken from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, which I have not read. One of the many things on my to-do list.

But on to why I chose that as the title of this post. While of the 70% of the earth's surface is covered with water, and only something like 1% is potable.

I'm not even talking about that right now. I'm talking about hot water.

Now, I live in an apartment, with a small water-heater tucked under my kitchen sink. That's a far cry from the large one my parents had, or the behemoth the dorms in college must have had. It also means that running out of hot water happens more often than I care to think.

Last weekend, due to some maintenance that had been done on our sink, we were out of hot water. No showers, no dishes... It was not fun. (Turns out that the maintenance people had simply forgotten to turn something back on.) When the water came back on, I needed a shower, but waited for the tank to fill and heat.

Even after waiting, I was worried that I'd be shocked cold during my final rinse. While a cold water rinse might be good for hair and skin, a surprise like that would not be good for my mood! So, I squeezed soap onto my loofah, and put conditioner in my hair, and turned off the water. Braided the conditioner in, lathered up, and then turned the water back on, all the while thinking about how this would not only save the hot water, but conserve water in general.

Conserving water in general also means that our water bill will be lower.

So, a simple adjustment to my routine, turning off the water when I'm not actually using it will benefit me threefold: 1) ensure that I have enough hot water to meet my needs, (2) cut down my overall water usage, and therefore water bill and (3) help conserve the potable water supplies.

Last night, the unthinkable happened. I ran out of hot water in the middle of my shower. I had not been following my own advice about turning off the water, so I was standing there, conditioner braided and loosely bunned in my hair, and, well, ready to rinse off, with no hot water. So, I turned off the shower.

I tried. I really tried to rinse with cold water, but it was icy, and the ambient temperature of our apartment is around 65 degrees. Not cold, but not all that warm, either, not when you are already chilled.

I rinsed what I could in the cold (like the loofah), and waited.

After a few minutes, I tried the hot water again. Hallelujah! It wasn't as warm as I usually like, but it was warm enough, and I rinsed everything out quick!

During this whole ordeal, I remembered my revelation from the previous weekend, and kicked myself a bit for not listening to myself. But, with an eye ever-forward, I realized that I couldn't change what I had  done, but could change what I will do.

So, I'm going to try to employ this water on/water off method more regularly. Will you?