Appliances

There are things we take for granted in Canada. Hot water and water pressure have be at the top of my list. Our tub takes more than an hour to fill and a shower is out of the question. Our flat has a small boiler that heats the radiators and the hot water. I read the manual several times - I was endeavoring to turn off the central heating as it's quite warm here now and it seemed like an enormous waste of energy.

I thought I had achieved success, but actually made things worse - the hot water would only stay on for a few minutes. I don't think the boiler was actually firing at all! So I re-read the manual and peered at the boiler like Mole from "Wind in the Willows" incessantly. I finally ascertained that it wasn't pressurized properly. I called the appliance company and they walked me through the procedure to re-pressurize it. Ridiculously simple, really! But, there still isn't a lot of hot water. I feel like I'm camping. I hate camping.

The knob on the dishwasher broke. I'm still trying to figure that one out. I'm not naturally handy, but I'm learning...