Calgary Shower

I assessed the situation. The shower head and faucet can always be found in the expected place wherever one happens to be showering on the globe. The nuances though are to be found in how one operates it.

Do I get rushing water by turning a protruding gadget this way or that? Do I have to pull out a lever to switch the water from the bath spout to the shower spout or is there an ingenious way to accomplish that feat? Do I have to move a handle quickly from cold through warm to get to a hotter temperature or can I make a good guess and hope to find the right temperature straight away? Some showers let you do that others don't.

The shower at our hotel room in Calgary seemed pretty straight forward. I turned the protruding faucet handle through the various temperatures until I found the temperature I liked. While the water gushed into the bath, I looked with my trained eye at the apparatus more closely. Yes, this one had an almost indiscernible extension to the bath spout. If I pulled that down it should divert water to the shower head. Only problem is, if I'm right, I have to be quick and get out of the line of fire of the first burst from the shower.

I moved and angled the shower head. Hmmm - that looked about right. The initial blast of cold water coming out of the pipe would not assault my nakedness. I switched the running water to the shower head and, in a quick flash, stepped back.

Success! No rude awakening for me this morning.

I stepped in under the warm water and thought what a treat the shower is for M when we travel. It's my job to recce the shower. I'm deployed to ascertain its strategic features and to gain the upper hand. Equipped in my birthday suit, I run the risk of an ice cold or a blistering hot assault if I make a wrong move.

M on the other hand, approaches the shower equipped with the knowledge of where the strategic gadgets are, how they operate and at which hour to have the handle of the faucet for just the right temperature. No suprises for him.

However, to be fair, I conduct the shower reconnaissance because it takes me longer to get ready in the morning. It's not my face but my hair that takes the extra time. And to be really fair, when we travel, I get to put my clothes on the bed and M packs the suitcases; he also co-ordinates the all important paperwork (air tickets, passports et al).

Hmm, come to think of it, now that I'm warm under the shower, my recce contribution isn't such a bad assignment after all.