domesticity

Much of my recent time has been taken up with domestic chores, such as:

Fixing my shower. Showers here generally only have one spigot - the one at bathtub height & then some long flexible metal tubing connected to the showerhead that one uses to actually take a shower. (Shower curtains are few and far between, but that's another story.) My metal tubing started leaking, so I had to buy a new tube. (in?)conviniently, this is a pretty regular occurence in these parts, so the new tubing is easy to track down. Early last week, I bought a metal tube at a booth at an open air market, only to come home and discover that it does not fit with my showerhead, leaking much worse than the first tube did. I went back a few days later, bringing the original tubing with me. In my best Serbian, I asked, "do you have the same thing?" while showing my tube. And that tube did not fit with my showerhead. So on Saturday morning, I bought a new showerhead (also sold all over the place) & now I can shower without drips.

Defrosting my freezer. I had never defrosted a freezer before yesterday. It feels like a really grown-up chore. My tiny (maybe 8 inches tall) freezer hadn't been working for a while - the door didn't really close & things I put in it melted. It was covered with frost. So after searching some online how-to sites, I embarked. As things started to thaw & I was able to break away some of the ice, I discovered a nearly full bottle of vodka that had been buried beneath the frost, left behind by the last tenant, like buried treasure.