The House of Horrors.
These days my hammock is my favorite (possibly the safest too) place to be. In all honesty, I don't have many other options. I recently strung my hammock up at a higher vantage point than before, so I can now look out over our town. I'm not sure why I didn't do this before.. I also discovered that if you place a floor mat inside the hammock, it makes for such a comfy floating seat. I really do love it. So, that is where I am today, sitting in my comfy sunshiny place, blindly typing away on the keyboard, because every time the hammock swings, the sun blinds me for a hot 2 seconds. I don't mind though, makes me feel warm and relaxed.
I'm here today to tell you about the house I live in, but more importantly, I want to tell you about the most recent happenings inside this house. The exterior is a sturdy cinder-block, finished house, just like a large percentage of other houses here in Kurdistan. With a full warehouse on the bottom, a kitchen, two bathrooms, shower room, living room, and three bedrooms on the next floor with a lovely deck that looks into the local park. Equipped with a smaller storage room and grand roof on top, in which I am currently seated. And, of course, on top of the storage room is another roof, that we refer to as the 'Roof Roof', another of my favorite places.
Our house is good to us (for the most part), it provides a place to be shielded from the hot sun in the summer, and the pouring rain in the winter (although that rain often finds its way in through our windows.) I really don't have anything to complain about (*Insert Quizzical Face), so I won't. I will just inform you upon recent happenings that I am sure you all will find amusing. Which really is my point in writing this.
A bit of back story: My Housie was attempting to take a shower one day as she squealed for some help. I went leaping to her assistance to find her struggling to control the water knobs. Boiling water was spewing out of the cold spigot, and we scrambled to turn it off. I must admit, I laughed a little when she had called for help. But now I could see, the whole shower shook fiercely, as if there was an angry monster inside fighting to be released. When the water was shut off, we found part of the shower tip had been broken off from the pressure and steam was still rolling. We counted our blessings and warned everyone of the raging shower and the vengeance it seemingly had. Needless to say, a few mornings later I had a similar experience, that didn't quite escalate that far. I was scared out of my whit's and decided to withhold awaking the beast.
Welcome to our Horrifying House.
Wednesday, March 11, 2020: The morning began as any normal one would. I was awake at 6:00, took a very sketch shower. The night before the girls were having issues with it. Issues that included it spitting and steaming more than usual, along with the stem of the shower shaking and rattling. Very odd to some people, but we were getting use to it by now. I made a steamy cup of coffee and sat on a mat on the porch, sunshine in my face, thinking and talking to God before another day began. It was peaceful, as it usually is that early in the morning. Chickens clucking around, soft snores coming from inside the house..(just kidding, I think I'm the only one who snores.) But the peacefulness didn't last long as a terrible sound, like a train picking up speed mixed with the most steamy waterfall you've ever listened to emerged from the door to my right. I immediately thought, "That's not normal...." and flung open the door to find my roommate who had done and thought the same thing from the other side. We both stood there, doors wide open as the raging sound got louder and louder. The sight was horrifying. Steam was pouring out of the smaller toilet room, making it difficult to assess the situation. Boiling water spraying everywhere. Being brave, my roomie shut the toilet-room door to contain all the steam, meanwhile, boiling water was seeping out into the larger bathroom space, the sound did not decrease. We retreated to our bedroom, going back and forth to check the situation. A few screams and stuffed tears later, our faithful Mr. Fixer (who lives in the other, smaller house) of all things, came to the rescue. One of the girls somehow managed to sleep through the mayhem, but to Mr. Fixer's surprise, he arrived to three very scattered girls, hysterically laughing and possibly crying. It was a very horrible thing to shake such a pleasant morning. When the pressure and sound became more manageable, Mr. Fixer bravely reached into the horror-pot room and turned the knob which allows the water to be shut off for the toilet. This was an amazing discovery, and the sound ceased immediately. The absolute worse part of this was to find our two fresh rolls of toilet paper were soaked beyond help and had to be thrown away. That and the inch of murky water that began melting into our bedroom, and the aftermath of scrubbing that place head to toe to remove the very unsanitary murk on its walls, neverminded it just being steamed for a good 20 minutes. The problem was finally discovered that apparently the water in our water heater was getting too hot and boiling, not having a place to release the pressure until we naively flushed a toilet or opened a spigot, releasing the built up wrath. Up until this point our house has had many trials, but this one took all. We thought to ourselves, "At least it can't get any worse..."
Cue Narrator: "Little did they know the worse was yet to come, and there was no way to avoid it. The House of Horrors."
Within the next several days, our second heart-stopping moment happened. This time the setting was in the squat-pot room, a tiny bathroom with a sink directly across from it. This morning, all four of us were awake and puttering around the house as the terrible rushing, steaming sound emerged once again. Shrieks were heard as we all ran to find the problem. Yet again, steam burst from the pipes in a hissing horrible way. Remembering the way that Mr. Fixer had handled the problem in the other bathroom, I reached in and turned the water off, bringing the steam to a slow but not complete halt. Thinking we could relieve some of the pressure, we turned on the sink right across from the squat. It sputtered and spit steam, as we intended and then exploded with boiling water. This was a problem. I think we all let out screams that echoed across town. The water had built up so much pressure it broke the end of the faucet and bent the faucet backwards, so that the boiling water was spewing right at us! Steam filled the room so you couldn't see what was what. We all took cover, there was steam billowing from behind where the squat pot was located, and steam mixed with boiling water in front. Horrible. Brave arms reached in with towels as hot pads and wrestled to get the sink's water shut off. We all stood stunned, Some laughed, some wept quietly. Who knew that our restrooms could have such a horrible vengeance against us, we still can't figure it all out, its not like we had been using them more often than usual, and if we were, the bathrooms should have felt honored... not angry.
Fast forward to a week or so later. Things were going smoothly, a little too smooth, considering all the horrible things this house throws at us. Life moved on as usual, an early morning of showering with yet again, another sketch shower but not unbearable. Sitting quietly, enjoying the morning, when suddenly it happened. A loud horrible rushing sound, coming from outside, and screams equally horrifying to follow it. Two very frazzled girls came shrieking out of their room as my roommate and I ran to see what the problem was. Awoken by a small explosion of the water heater outside their window, they were forced by fear out of their room. A pipe burst from all the pressure, leaving the water heater in a very dangerous situation, blowing boiling water and steam directly across from one of the girls beds. If we take into consideration all the things that had previously happened, I would say it was not an over-reaction to respond the way they did. How terrifying! To be shook from your sleep with boiling water and steam penetrating the window in front of you! I may have prematurely called Mr. Fixer, but we were all in a fright, and it seemed the right thing to do, since I had no other option. I did however turn off both pumps which brought the pressure down. The next few days were spent fixing the broken pipe and figuring out how to get our water to the right temperature with it being freezing cold or boiling hot. Quite the art to perfect, especially when showering!
Thursday, April 2, 2020: At this point our water-heater has been replaced and changed multiple times for multiple reasons. Leaks, broken pieces, etc. On this day I sat on our porch, enjoying sunshine and painting, when suddenly I felt a wet mist coming from above me. Given the day before was April Fools day, with no end to the pranks happening, I though maybe it was one of the girls spraying water on me from above. I called up for them to, "STOP IT!" but when the water still sprinkled down on me I stood up to find our neighbor man on his roof above me, with a jug of some sort, spraying some type of chemical or disinfectant around their house. I was slightly humbled that I had just raised my voice at him. He went on to motion and point and began to talk in Kurdish, of which, only small things I understood. I followed his directions and went to the roof, where he pointed out that our water heater was once again leaking. Oh boy. I called Mr. Fixer, turned off the pumps, and waited for another day of fixing our water issues
Saturday, April 4, 2020: Saturday morning began with a bang, as I had slept in a bit longer than usual and the decided to take a shower. I slipped into the shower room to prepare myself and began feeling the water temperature, a skill we have all learned to perfect. Turn the cold on first, and ease the hot water into it. The only problem is, before I had a chance to turn on the hot water, the cold water began to turn hot without warning, rushing and spitting out of the faucet, and forcing its way up the shower stem and out of the shower. There was so much pressure, boiling steam and water filled the room as I leapt for the door. My mind thought worse case scenario as I reached for the lock, 'What if the lock jams and I can't get out', 'What if I am boiled alive in this steampot!' I thought to myself moments before the door swung open and I ran out in a puddle of fright, only grabbing a half pair of pajamas that hung near to the door.
I decided that if indeed the door did jam, I would kick out the bottom panel of the door and dive out before my whole body was devoured and boil alive by the returning vengeance of the shower. Many shrieking screams left my mouth during the middle of this, which led my housemates to come flying to my rescue. I ran to my room to make myself presentable and then ran to the water heater to turn down the temperature, in hopes of it settling down and naturally relieving its steam. From there I ran up to the roof to unplug the pump, to also help the process of stopping the pressure. Meanwhile my brave roomie ventured into the shower room and turned off the water. In this moment I grabbed the cords to the pump and pulled with adrenaline coursing through my veins, I screamed. That wasn't adrenaline, my entire left arm was filled with an electric volt and swept through my body as I released grip on the chord. I came scrambling down the stairs and sunk into the corner as the girls looked at me with concern, as if they were saying, 'What could have possibly caused a second round of screaming from Ellie!" I'm not sure if it was all the trauma from that morning or the electrocution that caused me to shake uncontrollable. It took a few moments for me to gather my bearings. My next step was to go to the downstairs breaker box and flip the electricity off. As I reached the kitchen, Mr. Fixer came in, unaware of all that had just happened. It's quite the experience to have your house try to boil you alive and then fry your brains out in the same 10 minutes. I was frazzled to say the least, and told him of the happenings as I sunk into a state of laughter and tears. I had turned the water down to number 40 on the heater, compared to the previous 80, so I rested assured that things would calm down after that. We all packed up and left to do a shopping trip quick before our 48 hour in-home quarantine began. While out and about we received a call saying that our neighbor witnessed yet another explosion of our water heater. This time not only did a pipe blow off, but it also cracked the same window that led into the girl's room. Praise be that none of us were home when that happened, I think we would have all needed therapy for at least the rest of our lives.We arrived home to people helping our and trying to assess the situation. A few hours after the electrocution incident my finger still hurt pretty badly, and my arm and body were sore. I still have a small blister to show for the wrath of the pump.
To wrap it all up, that afternoon a bee found its way onto my back and gave me quite the painful ride of being stung. No, the house and it's vengeance had nothing to do with this, however, hopefully this isn't the start of an attack from Mother Nature. I think I've experienced enough horrid horrors to last me the rest of the quarantine. Don't worry house, we don't want to be here as much as you don't want us here, but please, can't we just get along.
I'm here today to tell you about the house I live in, but more importantly, I want to tell you about the most recent happenings inside this house. The exterior is a sturdy cinder-block, finished house, just like a large percentage of other houses here in Kurdistan. With a full warehouse on the bottom, a kitchen, two bathrooms, shower room, living room, and three bedrooms on the next floor with a lovely deck that looks into the local park. Equipped with a smaller storage room and grand roof on top, in which I am currently seated. And, of course, on top of the storage room is another roof, that we refer to as the 'Roof Roof', another of my favorite places.
Our house is good to us (for the most part), it provides a place to be shielded from the hot sun in the summer, and the pouring rain in the winter (although that rain often finds its way in through our windows.) I really don't have anything to complain about (*Insert Quizzical Face), so I won't. I will just inform you upon recent happenings that I am sure you all will find amusing. Which really is my point in writing this.
A bit of back story: My Housie was attempting to take a shower one day as she squealed for some help. I went leaping to her assistance to find her struggling to control the water knobs. Boiling water was spewing out of the cold spigot, and we scrambled to turn it off. I must admit, I laughed a little when she had called for help. But now I could see, the whole shower shook fiercely, as if there was an angry monster inside fighting to be released. When the water was shut off, we found part of the shower tip had been broken off from the pressure and steam was still rolling. We counted our blessings and warned everyone of the raging shower and the vengeance it seemingly had. Needless to say, a few mornings later I had a similar experience, that didn't quite escalate that far. I was scared out of my whit's and decided to withhold awaking the beast.
Welcome to our Horrifying House.
Wednesday, March 11, 2020: The morning began as any normal one would. I was awake at 6:00, took a very sketch shower. The night before the girls were having issues with it. Issues that included it spitting and steaming more than usual, along with the stem of the shower shaking and rattling. Very odd to some people, but we were getting use to it by now. I made a steamy cup of coffee and sat on a mat on the porch, sunshine in my face, thinking and talking to God before another day began. It was peaceful, as it usually is that early in the morning. Chickens clucking around, soft snores coming from inside the house..(just kidding, I think I'm the only one who snores.) But the peacefulness didn't last long as a terrible sound, like a train picking up speed mixed with the most steamy waterfall you've ever listened to emerged from the door to my right. I immediately thought, "That's not normal...." and flung open the door to find my roommate who had done and thought the same thing from the other side. We both stood there, doors wide open as the raging sound got louder and louder. The sight was horrifying. Steam was pouring out of the smaller toilet room, making it difficult to assess the situation. Boiling water spraying everywhere. Being brave, my roomie shut the toilet-room door to contain all the steam, meanwhile, boiling water was seeping out into the larger bathroom space, the sound did not decrease. We retreated to our bedroom, going back and forth to check the situation. A few screams and stuffed tears later, our faithful Mr. Fixer (who lives in the other, smaller house) of all things, came to the rescue. One of the girls somehow managed to sleep through the mayhem, but to Mr. Fixer's surprise, he arrived to three very scattered girls, hysterically laughing and possibly crying. It was a very horrible thing to shake such a pleasant morning. When the pressure and sound became more manageable, Mr. Fixer bravely reached into the horror-pot room and turned the knob which allows the water to be shut off for the toilet. This was an amazing discovery, and the sound ceased immediately. The absolute worse part of this was to find our two fresh rolls of toilet paper were soaked beyond help and had to be thrown away. That and the inch of murky water that began melting into our bedroom, and the aftermath of scrubbing that place head to toe to remove the very unsanitary murk on its walls, neverminded it just being steamed for a good 20 minutes. The problem was finally discovered that apparently the water in our water heater was getting too hot and boiling, not having a place to release the pressure until we naively flushed a toilet or opened a spigot, releasing the built up wrath. Up until this point our house has had many trials, but this one took all. We thought to ourselves, "At least it can't get any worse..."
Cue Narrator: "Little did they know the worse was yet to come, and there was no way to avoid it. The House of Horrors."
Within the next several days, our second heart-stopping moment happened. This time the setting was in the squat-pot room, a tiny bathroom with a sink directly across from it. This morning, all four of us were awake and puttering around the house as the terrible rushing, steaming sound emerged once again. Shrieks were heard as we all ran to find the problem. Yet again, steam burst from the pipes in a hissing horrible way. Remembering the way that Mr. Fixer had handled the problem in the other bathroom, I reached in and turned the water off, bringing the steam to a slow but not complete halt. Thinking we could relieve some of the pressure, we turned on the sink right across from the squat. It sputtered and spit steam, as we intended and then exploded with boiling water. This was a problem. I think we all let out screams that echoed across town. The water had built up so much pressure it broke the end of the faucet and bent the faucet backwards, so that the boiling water was spewing right at us! Steam filled the room so you couldn't see what was what. We all took cover, there was steam billowing from behind where the squat pot was located, and steam mixed with boiling water in front. Horrible. Brave arms reached in with towels as hot pads and wrestled to get the sink's water shut off. We all stood stunned, Some laughed, some wept quietly. Who knew that our restrooms could have such a horrible vengeance against us, we still can't figure it all out, its not like we had been using them more often than usual, and if we were, the bathrooms should have felt honored... not angry.
Fast forward to a week or so later. Things were going smoothly, a little too smooth, considering all the horrible things this house throws at us. Life moved on as usual, an early morning of showering with yet again, another sketch shower but not unbearable. Sitting quietly, enjoying the morning, when suddenly it happened. A loud horrible rushing sound, coming from outside, and screams equally horrifying to follow it. Two very frazzled girls came shrieking out of their room as my roommate and I ran to see what the problem was. Awoken by a small explosion of the water heater outside their window, they were forced by fear out of their room. A pipe burst from all the pressure, leaving the water heater in a very dangerous situation, blowing boiling water and steam directly across from one of the girls beds. If we take into consideration all the things that had previously happened, I would say it was not an over-reaction to respond the way they did. How terrifying! To be shook from your sleep with boiling water and steam penetrating the window in front of you! I may have prematurely called Mr. Fixer, but we were all in a fright, and it seemed the right thing to do, since I had no other option. I did however turn off both pumps which brought the pressure down. The next few days were spent fixing the broken pipe and figuring out how to get our water to the right temperature with it being freezing cold or boiling hot. Quite the art to perfect, especially when showering!
Thursday, April 2, 2020: At this point our water-heater has been replaced and changed multiple times for multiple reasons. Leaks, broken pieces, etc. On this day I sat on our porch, enjoying sunshine and painting, when suddenly I felt a wet mist coming from above me. Given the day before was April Fools day, with no end to the pranks happening, I though maybe it was one of the girls spraying water on me from above. I called up for them to, "STOP IT!" but when the water still sprinkled down on me I stood up to find our neighbor man on his roof above me, with a jug of some sort, spraying some type of chemical or disinfectant around their house. I was slightly humbled that I had just raised my voice at him. He went on to motion and point and began to talk in Kurdish, of which, only small things I understood. I followed his directions and went to the roof, where he pointed out that our water heater was once again leaking. Oh boy. I called Mr. Fixer, turned off the pumps, and waited for another day of fixing our water issues
Saturday, April 4, 2020: Saturday morning began with a bang, as I had slept in a bit longer than usual and the decided to take a shower. I slipped into the shower room to prepare myself and began feeling the water temperature, a skill we have all learned to perfect. Turn the cold on first, and ease the hot water into it. The only problem is, before I had a chance to turn on the hot water, the cold water began to turn hot without warning, rushing and spitting out of the faucet, and forcing its way up the shower stem and out of the shower. There was so much pressure, boiling steam and water filled the room as I leapt for the door. My mind thought worse case scenario as I reached for the lock, 'What if the lock jams and I can't get out', 'What if I am boiled alive in this steampot!' I thought to myself moments before the door swung open and I ran out in a puddle of fright, only grabbing a half pair of pajamas that hung near to the door.
I decided that if indeed the door did jam, I would kick out the bottom panel of the door and dive out before my whole body was devoured and boil alive by the returning vengeance of the shower. Many shrieking screams left my mouth during the middle of this, which led my housemates to come flying to my rescue. I ran to my room to make myself presentable and then ran to the water heater to turn down the temperature, in hopes of it settling down and naturally relieving its steam. From there I ran up to the roof to unplug the pump, to also help the process of stopping the pressure. Meanwhile my brave roomie ventured into the shower room and turned off the water. In this moment I grabbed the cords to the pump and pulled with adrenaline coursing through my veins, I screamed. That wasn't adrenaline, my entire left arm was filled with an electric volt and swept through my body as I released grip on the chord. I came scrambling down the stairs and sunk into the corner as the girls looked at me with concern, as if they were saying, 'What could have possibly caused a second round of screaming from Ellie!" I'm not sure if it was all the trauma from that morning or the electrocution that caused me to shake uncontrollable. It took a few moments for me to gather my bearings. My next step was to go to the downstairs breaker box and flip the electricity off. As I reached the kitchen, Mr. Fixer came in, unaware of all that had just happened. It's quite the experience to have your house try to boil you alive and then fry your brains out in the same 10 minutes. I was frazzled to say the least, and told him of the happenings as I sunk into a state of laughter and tears. I had turned the water down to number 40 on the heater, compared to the previous 80, so I rested assured that things would calm down after that. We all packed up and left to do a shopping trip quick before our 48 hour in-home quarantine began. While out and about we received a call saying that our neighbor witnessed yet another explosion of our water heater. This time not only did a pipe blow off, but it also cracked the same window that led into the girl's room. Praise be that none of us were home when that happened, I think we would have all needed therapy for at least the rest of our lives.We arrived home to people helping our and trying to assess the situation. A few hours after the electrocution incident my finger still hurt pretty badly, and my arm and body were sore. I still have a small blister to show for the wrath of the pump.
To wrap it all up, that afternoon a bee found its way onto my back and gave me quite the painful ride of being stung. No, the house and it's vengeance had nothing to do with this, however, hopefully this isn't the start of an attack from Mother Nature. I think I've experienced enough horrid horrors to last me the rest of the quarantine. Don't worry house, we don't want to be here as much as you don't want us here, but please, can't we just get along.
Comments