We are enjoying a fine spell of weather here in the south of Sakhalin Island, with temperatures getting up to 23-24 degrees Celcius during the day and the sun shining most of the time.<\/p>\n
As such, the city administration\u00a0yesterday decided to switch off the town heating system, which hitherto had been pumping superheated steam around each and every apartment, including my own, turning the place into a furnace.\u00a0 Welcome though the switching off of the heat is, not so welcome is the switching off of the hot water supply in the process: I now have no hot water whatsoever (cold water comes out of both taps).<\/p>\n
We have a boiler rigged up in the apartment linked to the shower and bathroom sink, but\u00a0after meddling with it last night all we got this morning was a minute of hot water before it turned icy cold.\u00a0 I’ve meddled some more this morning, opening and closing various valves and taps I found hiding in a recess behind the bathroom tiles, and I hope by this evening we will have enough hot water for a decent shower.\u00a0 If not, we’ll be in for some harsh summer mornings.<\/p>\n
Also unfortunately, the boiler does not supply hot water to the kitchen sink, meaning I either have to wash up with cold water or boil kettles and pour them into the washing up bowl.\u00a0 Bear in mind that we (or rather, my employers) are paying $2,700 per month for this place, plus the electricity bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The apartment I saw in Singapore which used fingerprint recognition technology in place of a door key now seems as though I witnessed it in a dream taking place on Mars.<\/p>\n
UPDATE<\/strong><\/p>\n Yay!\u00a0 I’ve managed to get the boiler working, and we can now have hot showers.\u00a0 I knew that mechanical engineering degree would come in handy some day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We are enjoying a fine spell of weather here in the south of Sakhalin Island, with temperatures getting up to 23-24 degrees Celcius during the day and the sun shining most of the time. As such, the city administration\u00a0yesterday decided … Continue reading