Sharing bath water

Howard, you're a star! Yes, we Yanks struggly 'personfully' (LOL) with our sad little situations. I have to say my home in Kendal was the worst. My mother never thought she'd see the day I had to keep a coal fire going at all times (but darnit, I did)! This house also had a northern exposure and no back garden so laundry took eons to dry.

I agree with mfred though that at times it did have a nice feel about it! It's just that most of us have crazy jobs and lives and can't slow down to this pace all the time, or if we're forced to, we get rather cranky about it!

But let's pause and recall that things are not all roses and sunshine across the pond! I think most people who post here are aware that there is immense poverty in the good ol' US of A and I know for a fact that my Grandmother was no better off on her Iowa farm than many Brits of her generation.

Mfred... my tap water was fine in Maryland I have to say. I'm still not sure about this separate pipes for hot and cold water issue. Is it the same in the States and no one has told us to let the cold run for a bit? Now I'm really confused!  

Hijack away Howard, I will join you in the anti Thatcher rant!

Me too!

There are bath issues in the States for me. I am spoiled by the longer bathtubs here in the UK,, and I love the shower nozzle thing that is attached to the tap on the bath here. When I go to the States for a visit,, I always feel I have to squish up to fit in the shorter bathtubs there. Since there are so many more new builds there,, you would think they would put in longer tubs like are standard issue here in the UK. That is one thing I would really miss form here

The way I deal with the seperate hot and cold tap when washing my face, is to use a washcloth soaked with both hot and cold water,, and job done.  On a whole seperate issue, I have learned to pack a few washcloths with me on holiday here in the UK, as most Hotels don't seem to provide them.  

I agree with mfred though that at times it did have a nice feel about it! It's just that most of us have crazy jobs and lives and can't slow down to this pace all the time, or if we're forced to, we get rather cranky about it!

true, i am not working just yet...so it is ok for me at this time, may think differently when i am able to get a job

Mfred... my tap water was fine in Maryland I have to say. I'm still not sure about this separate pipes for hot and cold water issue. Is it the same in the States and no one has told us to let the cold run for a bit? Now I'm really confused!  

I am from maryland as well...but i lived on the bay...and never had city water in any of my homes...thus nasty stinky water, even if we had a softner, I did not trust the water...here it is clean and crisp tasting and I love it

Like everyone else the whole mixer tap thing drives me nuts, but really and truly at the end of the day so much is based on your upbringing and what you are used to.  Just because it's different does not make it worse -just different.  

I hope all those that are renting eventually get a place that better meets their needs.  I hated renting and do agree that the system for renting in many European countries is frustrating for those used to the US system.  I hated having to fix things that went wrong and not having the basic necesities included like a frig, washer and dryer and stove.  I was amused by the fact that the tile on my floor was over 100 years old.  I found it interesting that the telephone man had to run the wire outside the building and up over the roof to get it to the living room where we wanted it. The radiator pipes were a bit ugly, but great for drying socks.   It was interesting to pass the 85 year old lady climbing up or down 6 flilghts of stairs since we had no lift.  It is backwards?  It is like camping?  Not in my opinion, but that's just me and I am overly sensitive to people expecting their new place to mold and fit to their paradigm.  I'm sure I will vent about things that drive me nuts once I move I just hope that I see things for a positive light rather than a negative one.  Things are just different.  I am thankful they are, because if they weren't we could all just stay home and never travel or experience new cultures.

I know this is a hijack and unrelated to bath water in many ways, but I just had to let it out.  Oh and I just have to add that nothing is more wonderful than a nice romantic bubble bath or a whirlpool soak with your love.  I find nothing gross about that at all.  

Amen to the above!  

 Oh and I just have to add that nothing is more wonderful than a nice romantic bubble bath or a whirlpool soak with your love.  I find nothing gross about that at all.  

I have no problem with that...I totally agree. I just don't want to hop in his leftover bath water he's used to wash himself and take my bath.

Yes must add that entering water with floaty bits and soap scum is not a thing I do.  I would insist on being the first.  

peeps, sharing a bath with your honey is more than ok...it is fantastic...  using water that has been used by another bather first...is the gross part...

Shel I think we cross posted.  I agree with that totally.  

I am all for trying new things, and learning the hang of a new culture,, but having to heat up water in the kettle all last winter, because our boiler was very messed up and we were quoted about 3000 pounds to replace it by British Gas,, which we still have not done, as that is just too much for us at the moment. That is why I laughed at the 'camping' quip. We actually had our sleeping bags out in the lounge to cuddle in for warmth the first winter I was here, because of the dodgy boiler. Sometimes you have to see the light side of a situation that would otherwise drive you to drink  People shouldn't have to explain why they can relate to something that amuses them.

There wasn't a great deal I loved about the home I first lived in when I moved to the UK. I had to stoke the coal fire every morning just to have hot water/heat in the house. Wet clothes had to be airing-cupboarded, no mixer taps, plastic bathtub, tiny basin that couldn't even fit hands in to wash, standing meant hitting your head...we won't even talk about the carpet that was filled with larvae (discovered while vaccuuming).

But the experience is one I wouldn't trade, just because it was part of, well, I learned. It was a life experience. And I laugh.

That's such a distant memory now. I love my 2nd house...far better than anything I've ever had in the US. Yup, you can get just about anything in the UK, and sometimes even better quality. Certainly more oompf behind it because of the voltage differences. At times it takes more looking. But rarely do you have to compromise.

I'm with Mindy. Current circumstances can be changed (it won't always be overnight). Until then, yeah, we moan, but, Britain has nothing less than the US has...and in many ways there's more. Like I said, I love my house here in the UK. But we're still working on it. Patience...ahhh, wish I had more!  

This thread has got my entrepreneurial juices going!  Why not:

a) Import from the States mixer faucets and huge drive-in fridges

b) Export to the States Dyson vacuum-cleaners?

Voilà!  Enormous fortunes to be made!

On a serious note: there was a tip I meant to pass on sometime ago when people were talking about laundry and drying clothes.  I am chief laundryman in our tiny household, and when I don't feel like powering-up the tumbler-drier, or when I am feeling miserly (after all, God dries washing for FREE in our back garden) or conscientiously conservationist, I hang the washing on the whirly-gig thing (I'm not sure what these are called - has three spokes with washing line strung round and round between them), then put the big garden parasol* over the lot.  Then, unless the rain is driving parallel to the ground the washing does get dry ... eventually.

BTW, Julia has just got back from university, and our daily laundy load is now up by 300%!!!  But I wouldn't have it any other way, it's lovely having her back.

*This is pub-garden-sized.

Ahh, Howard,, they have already started selling Dyson's in the States,, you can get one from Best Buy  Very expensive they are there too  

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1051384415816&skuId=5295094&type=product&cmp=%20%20

Sometimes you have to see the light side of a situation that would otherwise drive you to drink  

That's the point isn't it?  Sorry but I am not going to become negative and spend my time bashing things.  Life is too short to wallow in misery.  That is just my paradigm and my view on things.  I understand the need to vent I just tend to think that some people get stuck in that negative view and unfortunately it won't make things better.  I just endevour to make people see the other side of things is all.  I don't mean to say don't vent -just try to focus on the good in life and make small changes to make things bearable until you can change your circumstances. Then again if someone is content to wallow in misery I know that there is not much I can do about that.  I can still try though can't I? Besides which some things are not just UK issues are they?  Yet the tendency has been to accuse the UK of being some how backwards, when so many of the same issues can be found in old homes in the USA.  Again I am just overly sensitive to this, I recognize it and will just shut up now.

Sorry off topic yet again.   :-/