All I will say is that it is a good thing that my work allows me to telecommute when I need to multitask aka deal with *life* (and Rooomba) as well as work. The Queen Bee came in this morning noting that it was Friday the 13th and that she hasn’t ever been a superstitious person but the older she gets, the more superstitious she is. TQB is just about the most humble, down-to-earth person I have ever known and when she says something like that, I listen. Except that I chirped something like, “Oh, yesterday was myyyyy Friday the 13th, internet down, pilot light, Frog Hopper taaaars, yada yada.” But then. I sent her this email at about 11:40: “Hey boss, can I work from home this afternoon because yada yada yada [you don’t wanna know] and I think I spoke too soon about Friday the 13th.” To those five people who care, everything is okay. I just have to get the right people to talk to each other using a common vocabulary. I can do that at work. I’m not sure why I don’t seem to be able to do that in life. Actually I do kind of know but you don’t wanna know and I’m not making sense so let’s move on to something more interesting. [er, excuse me, Rooooomba, stop running into my feet please. I love you but…]

But let’s get going into some fun stuff now because fun is what makes the world go ’round…

Although I do have running hot water aplenty this weekend [thanks to Mouse], I thought I would post my procedure for taking a shower and washing my hair using a camping shower back in the days when we still visited the Moldy Old [but much beloved] Courtois Cabin at Houghton Lake. I still [kinda] miss those days. That old camping shower probably died along with the Moldy Old [but much beloved] Cabin but the GG has a brand new one in the Lyme Lounge (because he knows I will not camp anywhere if I cannot take a shower at least once a day).

The photoooo links to some pics of folks pumping and hauling water into the Moldy Old [but much beloved] Cabin back in 2003. I put them on Flickr. It’s been a while since I’ve been out there on Flickr. Things have changed… I may have to explore… But those photooos always remind me of how much fun we had back in those days.

Without further ado, my old Houghton Lake winter shower procedure (this procedure assumes that none of the water on the stove has already been heated, if it HAS, you’ll have to get creative about getting the right temperature water):

1. Fill the teakettle with water from one of the big barrels.
2. Turn the tea kettle on high (burner 3, back right).
3. Get an empty bucket from the shower stall. If none are empty, empty one into the toilet.
4. Get the shower down from where it hangs on the showerhead, put it in the empty bucket, and take it out to the kitchen.
5. When the water in the teakettle is about shower temperature (usually 3-5 minutes), pour it into the shower.
6. Repeat until you have enough water in the shower. Washing long hair is 3 teakettles-worth, short hair prob’ly 2 teakettles, 1 teakettle is sufficient if you don’t have hair.
7. Carry the bucket with the shower in it back into the bathroom.
8. Remove any buckets from the shower stall. Put them anywhere.
9. Put your clothes and towel and whatever in SAFE places where they won’t fall into buckets of water or onto the floor or into the toilet, etc. (This step can be a challenge.)
10. Hoist the shower up and hook the handle over the top of the showerhead.
11. Get all the way into the shower stall and take your shower. NO, you don’t just LEAN into the shower. Sheesh!
12. Helpful hint #1: if you are washing your hair, do that first.
13. Helpful hint #2: the hose frequently (at least 5 times a weekend) comes undone from the shower bag. Just shove it back on — QUICKLY!

This procedure is DESIGNED so that there is water left over after your shower. There are two reasons for this:

1. it is no fun to be hanging out in the rusty, moldy old Houghton Lake shower stall with shampoo all over your head and NO WATER, so EXTRA WATER is built in to the procedure.
2. Leftover water can be used by Mr. Rank and Mr. Odiferous to take a shower (hint, hint).

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