Who Needs Hot Water Anyway?

Ahh Russia, the land that never ceases to amaze.  As of Monday morning the boiler was shut down in our building for 'maintenance'.  Duration is projected to be two weeks, but we shall see if that holds true.  The good news is that there was a notice posted so we were not caught entirely off guard and because Olga used to live here we knew this was coming at some point.  

This knowledge, while nice, does not stop me from wondering what causes the need for this in the year 2009.  It's not as if we live in a Soviet-era building...we believe the building is less than 10 years old.  FYI, this is not an isolated thing, as there are rolling outages throughout the country over the course of the summer.  This would also explain why the Metro has that amazing aroma by mid-June!  

The only reason that I can think of that could justify this is the fact that Moscow has the hardest water I've ever experienced, thereby causing the need to shovel out the deposits each year.  I've often considered wearing a hard hat while taking a shower to diminish the possibility of head trauma. 

Oh well, at least we have a boiler in our apartment...this was a requirement when we were looking for a place.  So I guess for the next few weeks we live in the world of 7 minute showers. I guess it could be much worse, we could be without a boiler and have to boil water in order to take warm showers.  So much to be thankful for.