Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro: 23oC, cool, overcast and rainy.
Wednesday is the middle point of the week and my fourth day living in Flamengo, and cracks are beginning to show, not in Flamengo but in my abode.
As usual, I got up early, left home to exercise in the local park, and quickly returned for my first early class at 7 am. I was arriving, and Yasmin and Nalva were leaving; I did not have enough time to shower before the class. As I had classes at seven, eight and nine, I could only shower at 10 am.
When I was able to shower, the water was not being heated. Electric showers can be problematic, which is one of the reasons that they are not considered as good as gas showers. For two years, I was used to a gas boiler shower in Copacabana, and now I am back to the poverty line again with a broken electric shower.
I dismantled the shower head to see the filament and tried to find another in local shops in Flamengo. None of the shops had this make of filament, so I tried to make use of the old filament and repair it.
Then, trying to put back the shower head, etc, to see if it worked, the shower arm that supports the shower on the wall broke because of a weak thread in the joint on the wall. I called Nalva to see if she knew somebody locally who could fix it, and she told me about a porter, an odd-job man who works in the building.
I tracked down Junior in the building’s reception. Within two hours, he came to have a look and concluded that we needed to break part of the wall to change a joint and a pipe. He didn’t have all the necessary tools and materials with him, but he promised to return the next day to start working on the wall to repair it.
So, I had to have a cold shower, and everybody else had to do the same for the next couple of days until it was fixed.
The funny thing is that I recently watched a YouTube video from the famous neuroscientist Andrew Huberman talking about and justifying the medicinal qualities of cold showers. A cold shower boosts and improves your mood and makes you feel better and happier by triggering dopamine in the brain.
I think it worked; even though it was not pleasant when I took it, I felt really good for the rest of the day. I also felt cleaner than a regular hot shower, but that is just me. It was also interesting that I noticed that in this experience of the shower breaking, my ex-wife did not complain, nor did she throw it in my face as some form of disappointment.
I have just arrived, and things are already beginning to break, but it is still early. I also noticed about me that I did not despair in any way about the problem. The truth is that shit happens every day, and when it happens, we have to face and resolve it. So, I had a short, cold, tortuous shower that made me feel good and enthusiastic for the rest of the day and giving classes.
I am always striving to improve and organize things to enhance the quality of life for my daughter and ex-wife, who I am currently living with. I do this whenever I am alone and with the time to do so.
As a priority, I am delegating housework to Yasmin as it is important for her. When she was with me in Copacabana, I would do this, and she always did what I had asked her to do, but it was temporary. Now it is full-time, I want to increase her responsibilities to prepare her for her future adult life.
Even though things are not 100%, all is good because life is like this. We must see the beauty or the positiveness in the smallest things. My ex-wife arrived home at about 7 pm, tired but not complaining.
In bed by 9.30 pm.
Thank you very much.
Thanks for reading my blog. Check out my other posts and share your thoughts in the comments.
Richard
