HEATING UP!

     It's a question of heat!
     Why do we feel that, everything should is available to us as soon as we need it? 
      I was the first to encounter our problem. The time to leave for an appointment was very near. I decided to take a quick shower. Turned on water. Checked: is it warm? 
     No, it wasn't! California is in one of the worst droughts, but I stood there for at least three minutes with the water running, waiting for the smallest indication that it was warming up. 
     Huh! It was still cold. I steeled myself and climbed into a cold shower. It wasn't too bad: I used to do that same thing in the East Coast's winters. Brrrrrrrrrrrrr!

     Taka came home early that evening. He does it every Wednesday to take a shower and do all the things that he needs to do too. 
     - "There's no hot water!" - he called out from the bathroom. 
     - "Yes", - I yelled back - "I know!"
     Taka asked me to call our electric company the next day to send a technician to repair the water heater. 
     I forgot. It just skipped my mind!
     - "How could you forget?" - whined Taka. His hair and face

shone with oil. Every now and then, his hands crept up to scratch his scalp. I really felt bad about leaving him in this itchy state, but - what could I do now?
     The next morning started on a sour note.
     Taka:
     - "Are you awake?"
     Me:
     - "I am now."
     Taka:
     - "Are you going to call about the water heater today?"
     Me:
     - "Yes."
     Taka (a little later): 
     -"Are you awake?"
     Me: 
     -"I am now."
      Taka: 
     -"Are you going to call about the water heater today?"
     Me: 
     -"Yes."
      (I'll skip a couple more times that he woke me up).
    Taka: 
     -"Are you awake?"
     Me: 
     -"What do you want?!"
     Taka: 
     -"Don't forget to call about the water heater today!"
     Me: 
     -"Didn't I tell you that I will?!"
     Taka: 
     -"You forgot yesterday! Are you going to do it?"
     
Someone had better promote me into sainthood or give me a gun!
     He was right to worry, though. The first appointment the electric company could give us was in five days! I called GE Corporation, who made our heater. The young lady asked me all kinds of questions, because, as she put it: "It's the first time someone is calling about this unit, and I need some information." Information she got, but declared that, the water heater was not under the repair warrantee, so they were not going to send a technician. They even didn't have any technicians in this area (I didn't know that we lived in the middle of a no-technician-zone!). She did try to troubleshoot what was wrong with the heater with Sonny, though, and told me that "she thought," it needed a new "igniting wire". 
     I won't bore you with the list of the ideas I had, and all the reasons why they didn't work out. Suffice it to say, after all the calling and getting transferred to a wrong department and waiting in vain for a call back, I now feel like screaming in horror every time I look at the phone!
     It's a question of heat. How much of it do we need? How much is safe to feel and let others feel from you? One thing for sure: I just proved to myself that I am not ready for the sainthood!