Day 2: No Hot Water

We've now moved into the second day of cold water. This means several things, but most importantly, that I have not showered in two days. Washed myself briefly with Siberian imported water yes, but showered no. My hair feels greasy and unclean. Fortunately, I got it cut last week so it is reasonably tame in its paucity. My face feels as if rough sandpaper has been rapidly zinged across my stubbly cheeks until nothing but raw flesh remained. My body felt shriveled and small after my brief wash with artic chilled water. I feel uncivilized.

Of course, the positive is that it's Wednesday, I'm relatively well rested because I could sleep later knowing I didn't have to schedule a shower, and, as the song famously goes, "I can't wait...for the weekend to begin." (Euro-club music.) Really though, the troll that runs my student house should go in the Pantheon of Moron, a sure fire first ballot hall of famer if there ever was one. Not only does he appear to have two independent personalities, but his response to the broken water heater is, "oh well, hopefully we'll have it fixed tomorrow," and to exit the building off to God knows where. This is the second time the heater has broken in two weeks. Of course, his attitude to all things is to give a Parisian shrug and know that no matter how inconvenient it is for the residents, he's got a cozy flat somewhere that he can go to, all paid for by his salary that he doesn't deserve and should have retroactively reclaimed and distributed to more deserving folks (like myself).

Another example: He's a big fire safety guy, perhaps his only quality. So into it he is, that one time he turned on the fire alarm to get everyone downstairs at an unscheduled (and really f*cking annoying) meeting where he went on and on that he's seen two people burned to death in a fire and he takes it very seriously. Anyway, he's decided that the doors to the rooms are in need of replacement - not up to his own personal fire code. It takes two days to replace a door apparently (this is England, after all) so that creates a problem. How do you replace a door without inconveniencing the resident of said room for two days? Clearly, the only solution is to make the person move to an empty room that has already had the door replaced because that's the least inconvenient option. Yeah, I'll be fighting this one when my time comes. I'm not giving up my balcony so easy; nor am I giving up on logic. Less inconvenient? If you're a monk with only the clothes on your back maybe.

Anyway, the guy is a total jackass and I wish that he would get fired, retire, break a leg, something just so I don't have to deal with him anymore (ok, I don't wish bodily harm, but it would be nice if he retired)...

...So glad the Church took a real risk and elected a hard core conservative Old Europe Pope with a history of being in the Nazi party and all. Not that he's a Nazi or anything, just, as one commenter quipped, "joining the Hitler Youth is not something you want to boast about on your CV." Let's hope that Prince Harry doesn't pick out his outfits.

I find his claim that he will work to establish "an open and sincere dialogue" with other religions to be neither sincere or open. This is a man that has long argued that there is only "one true church" and that people from other faiths are in danger of not making it to heaven, or some such nonsense. His vow to continue Church reforms is a euphemism for returning the Church to the conservative, "know your place woman", type of role that was started under the last Pope and is sure to continue to drive the Catholic Church into the ground. And, since divorce, sex, gays, and female priests are all likely to continue to be interpreted as "sins", it's likely that AIDs in Africa will continue to tick upwards and that this Pope will share some responsibility in the millions of deaths that could have been prevented with the simple application of a condom.

Of course, I'm not shocked that they picked an elderly, conservative, turn back the clock kind of Pope. The Cardinals are a staunchly pro-John Paul group, having mostly been appointed by him. Hoping for a more liberal Pope is akin to hoping that George Bush appointed Jeffrey Sachs as the head of the World Bank or IMF. Sachs, for those of you unfamiliar, is a Colombia University economist and special advisor to the UN who is largely considered the most important and authoritative voice on how to deal with global poverty. I'm reading his book, The End of Poverty, foreword by Bono, of course. At any rate, in what was an obvious political decision (the Church, like all organizations, is a political body), the assertion that everyone should support this Pope because he was chosen via "divine inspiration" irritates me to no end. I'm quite sure that if God had been personally involved in this decision, we would not have had an old school German Pope ready to crack the whip on the back of modernity in the vain and desperate hope to restore "traditional values".

On a final note, my neighbor, who is quite prescient (and has predicted that Michael Jackson will be dead by December), accurately predicted that they would select an aging Pope who would undoubtedly have a short tenure. The real power in the Church is no longer in the highest office. Instead, it's the minions behind the scenes that run the show and they have every interest in appointing a man who is likely to become increasingly infirm in his dotage. So let's hope the damage that this Benedict can do is small and short lived. Perhaps he could retire as well...

...No word from Real World. I texted her yesterday to say that I hope she is ok. No response. Who knows what that means. She could be in a hospital, dead, or just ignoring me because I couldn't do what she wanted (whatever that was). I've washed my hands of this episode. Whatever she chooses to do with herself is her choice, not mine...

...Miss Colorado leaves London for good on Saturday. We haven't had much of a chance to hang out of late and I called her last night. We talked for an hour or so. She's sort of excited to go, but also is a bit sad and nostalgic about leaving London. It was interesting to hear her talk about it. I'm sure that I'll be in a similar position at some, as yet undefined point. London is a great place to live and gripe about, but when you leave, you're leaving a unique period of your life that is ultimately irreplaceable. We're going to keep in touch and she has vowed to see me again someday, even if it's in another place. I will miss her. We have our last London hurrah tonight.