My brother- and sister-in-law, the Facebook famous Steve and Stacie Becker, were the latest guests to check in at Casa de Croes. Celebrating their first anniversary, they jumped across the pond for their (also first) European vacation. Following in the footsteps of Joe and Judi Stormer, the newlyweds toured London like no other (it must run in the family). From Heathrow to Bath with stops at Stonehenge, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey (site of the second biggest wedding this past year) and of course, Shoreditch, the Beckers saw it all… with 800 pictures to prove it. In honor of their impending anniversary, they also took the Eurostar to Paris were they “hopped on” and “hopped off” at nearly every attraction imaginable. Tres Bien!
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| Family Photo |
It goes without saying that the planning and execution of the Becker trip was virtually flawless. But this wouldn’t be a proper “Life As A Londoner” blog, if I didn’t tell you about how Stacie and Steve’s visit also happened to coincide with our 4-week stint without hot water. Oh yes, 4 weeks, which, according to our management company, is “just how life is sometimes.”
When Josh’s parents were in town we noticed that there something wrong with the water. Perhaps too many showers per day or one too many dishes being washed. Or maybe after a long winter, the hot water decided to go on hiatus. Whatever the reason, our apartment called for a boiler strike. Oddly enough, someone I was working with at the time experienced the same problem. He said he just turned a knob here, flipped a switch there and voila! Well, if you saw our original boiler you would know that it was army green and dusty and looked like it had been erected in the 1960s. There were no knobs or switches or restart buttons. In fact, our first repairman (yes, first of five) told us he could barely look into the matter, because of the way the boiler was basically stuffed into a tiny closet. It’s also worth mentioning that before this repairman came to our flat and tinkered with our boiler, we were at least able to get hot water during the strike so long as the heat was on. In 70-80 degree weather this was less than ideal, but hey, hot water with heating is better then no hot water at all. As you might have guessed, after he left, the hot water stopped flowing altogether.
We were told a valve needed to be replaced and the order was going to be rushed. And when no one called us for a week and a half, we learned that the person in charge of receiving deliveries was out sick. By the time the new part was ready to be installed, Josh and I were leaving for NY. Fortunately, or so I thought at the time, I was able to schedule an appointment for the morning we returned from our trip. It was so nice to think that after an all-day plane ride, we’d finally be able to take a nice, long, hot shower. But 10am Monday morning came and went. After several calls, I once again learned that there was a scheduling muck-up as yet another person had called out sick. I seriously contemplated sending over a jumbo box of multi-vitamins.
While Josh and I have come to expect this kind of thing, what were our guests going to think? I mean, we were handling things just fine. We each took daily showers at the gym, which actually forced us to workout and has to this day kicked off a bit of a fitness high. But what were Stacie and Steve going to do? I didn’t think Fitness First offered guest passes for their bathroom facilities.
So we went back to the management company for another round of, “You better fix this!” - “We’re doing everything we can!” emails. And after visits from two more repairmen, our apartment was condemned! Turns out it wasn’t just a busted valve, but the entire boiler needed to be replaced.
With our landlord’s blessing—that is after several threats—we were granted permission to get a hotel room with compensation. Good, great, problem solved. Josh and I planned to hit the showers after our trip to the Abbey and Stacie and Steve were going to head over later that evening and spend the night there. In all truthfulness, I can’t complain about our shower/stay at the Holiday Inn Express on Old Street. Firm and soft pillows, labeled accordingly, coffee/tea service, free continental breakfast, and lots of movie channels.
We did, in fact, get the handicapped room, which was completely fine, as there was a functioning shower. But to give you a mental image of what this looked like, picture a bathroom with nothing more than a toilet and sink. Then imagine a showerhead affixed to the wall. No tub, door or curtain. Just a drain in the middle of the floor. Oh, and there was also a long red cord. Please note that if you should ever be in a similar situation, do not pull said cord, unless you’ve fallen and can’t get up. Curious Josh pulled it and subsequently alerted the front desk that room 304 was in distress. We had to call reception and cancel what was sure to be a visit from the manager on duty, followed by medical assistance and an ambulance.
After our weekend stay in the Holiday Inn Express, the new boiler was finally installed by the fourth and fifth repairmen. We celebrated the end of Hot-Watergate by doing the dishes and taking more showers (as one should). And while our visits to the gym may have become less frequent, it feels quite luxurious to bathe without flip-flops.
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| Cheers to the Happy Couple |
To Stacie and Steve I’d like to say thanks for coming, Happy 1st Anniversary and, every time you take a shower, I hope you think of us!
